Death's Game
by Grub Leaf-Eater
Summary: When you challenge Death to a game, make sure you specify the terms well, because Death plays to win. He's also a hell of a whiny narrator. For community owners-this is a Gamer Fic.
1. Chapter 1

Collection #47291028312(of the day) was proving to be rather a pain, thought Death. Sadly, he was constrained by the culture of the world that he was collecting in.

 _ **YOU WANT TO CHALLENGE ME TO WHAT?**_

"A game. Specifically, one specifically like the Gamer manhwa. If you hav-"

 _ **I KNOW WHAT THAT IS, BUT... WHY? IT'LL TAKE FOREVER TO DO THAT. DON'T YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO COME BACK TO LIFE?**_

"If you do this every day, whenever you're challenged, either time doesn't exist for you or you can time travel or make whatever game you're challenged to take no real-life time."

 ** _FUCK YOU, IT STILL TAKES FOREVER FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, BUT FINE, WHATEVER. I'LL JUST HAVE TO SET IT UP SO YOU DIE FAST._**

"Nuh-uh, fuck you. You're going to use a world that's going to at least keep me alive for a moderate amount of time, or drop me into a relatively safe place so I can do all the start of game shit and tutorials and stuff."

 _ **DAMN YOU, FINE. I ALWAYS WAS A SUCKER FOR A FAIR GAME.**_

"That's why everyone always attributes you to chess?

 ** _NO, I SIMPLY COME TO ALL IN THE END, EVEN SO-CALLED IMMORTAL ALIENS._**

"Fair 'nuff."

 _ **LET THE GAME BEGIN, THEN.**_

* * *

The first thing I heard was a growl from behind me, and I realized I was lying on my back. I scrambled to my feet just as teeth closed around where my neck was a moment ago.

I murmured 'Observe'.

[ **Injured Beowolf**

Level:20

Hp: 10/500

Mp:?

Ap:0]

Huh. As it lunged feebly again, I punched it in the face and Observed it again.

[6/500

Through a action, the skill **Punch** has been created.

Previous incarnation experience has set this skill to level 6

You have inherited the former title **'Plastic Board Breaker** '! What did those poor training boards do to you?

 **Punch** lv 6, 1.1% xp: inflicts 130% Str+Fist-weapon damage.

Fist weapons include gloves, gauntlets, knuckes and rings. ]

Wait, should I be reading that in the middle of-

My train of thought is cut off as teeth sink into my thigh. Augh fuck!

[-28 HP]

I punch the damn Wolf two more times and it dies, disappearing unceremoniously. I look around, seeing a shiny barrier around me and Observing it.

[ **Dustwall** : An experimental anti-Grimm barrier that blocks all passage and prevents Grimm from forming inside. Remaining time: 1 Hour.]

I look around for the generator, before spotting a dead body by some machinery. I quickly move over and without vomiting, fortunately, strip the man(thank god it wasn't a girl) for his armor, quickly changing from my bloodstained clothes into the equally bloodstained but at least mildly protective armor. I glance where the Beowolf died, seeing a greenish orb and some scattered items. I grab the man's shot-saber before moving over and touching the orb.

[ **Pseudosoul Collected:Beowolf**

+400 EXP

Soul/Pseudosoul collection: Due to your powers being granted by Death, the only way to advance in level is by killing or being present during the killing of a being with at least basic emotional capacity. At least, in most worlds. In the world of Remnant, Grimm are made of spiritual energy shed by humans in certain emotional states.

Additionally, on collecting enough Grimm pseudo-souls, you will be granted the option to fuse the leftover shell from which you took experience! For instance, 100 Beowolves can be used to create a Barghest. Fusing souls will summon mighty bosses who, when defeated, will drop spent souls which can be fused upward, along with Summon Stone fragments. A full Summon Stone will allow you to become a summoner, but you will need one for each creature type you want to summon.]

Goddamn, textwall. Must have lost at least a minute reading that. I look at the items that dropped.

... A single strand of wolf fur and a tooth?

[Your luck's one, deal with it.]

Actually, I'm ok with this. It was relatively easy to kill them. I snag the tooth and hair, humming in thought. Time to make a new skill. I rip a pocket off my old pants and some thread, carefully using the tooth as a needle to turn it into a serviceable pouch

[Through a action, you have created the skill **Tailoring!**

Previous life experience gives this skill 10% towards 2nd level. Scrub.

 **Makeshift Pouch** : 5 durability. Why do you even need this? You have a inventory.]

I'm getting to that, yeesh. I wrap the strand of fur around the tooth and place it into the pouch, concentrating on it.

[Huh, that's not a bad idea.

Through creative action, the skill **Fetishism** has been created.

 **Fetishism** level 1, 1% experience

+1% effectiveness to created fetishes and totems. Round down.

Levels by creating fetishes and totems, or actively using fetishes or totems.

Wolf-Tooth Fetish Pouch: Misc Accessory, durability 5/5. This is apparently your fetish. +1% str/dex, +2% Wis, +5% damage vs canines]

...I set myself up for that. "You have a dirty mind, Death. Also, spend too much time on the internet."

[I have literally all the time in the world. I can take 72 hours here and there to surf the web.]

Touche.

I strap the fetish to my belt for now. "Why doesn't that guy have a soul?"

[Souls only persist on this plane for a hour.]

Hm. I take the time to Observe the sword and give it a few dramatic swings.

[ **Shotsaber** , durability 50/50

Melee: Slashing, 500% Str damage.

Ranged: Shrapnel, 50 damage. Reduces over distance.

Melee w/dust: Slashing/Element, 500% Str+Int damage

Ranged w/dust: Element, 25+250% Dex+Int damage

Charges: 10 dust strikes per crystal, only accepts low-tier dust crystals. Forcing in a high tier dust crystal will cause 10 damage to the blade per use; the gun stops operating under 25 durability.]

Holy shit, that Dust damage was AMAZING. And this was clearly just a rank-and-file sword. Naturally, that, too, goes on my belt.

I still have 55 minutes, so I take a minute to observe myself.

[ **Grustlon** -]

Who the _fuck_ is that?

[I set you up with a fake identity. Can't have someone with no records appear out of nowhere.]

Fine.

[ **Grustlon Greyhart** ; level 1, 400/50 experience.]

What the fuck? I clearly had enough experience to level.

[Gotta sleep first, at least until you have a excuse for advancing instantly.]

Ugh, **FINE**.

 **[Strength:4(4.04)**

 **Dexterity:7(7.07)**

 **Constitution:10(5)**

 **Int:15(19.5)**

 **Wis:5(5.1)**

 **Charisma:10(5)**

 **Luck:1]**

What the fuck? My only decent stat was Int? I assume, at least. I know I'm not that strong and I tire fast, and...

Alright, fine, but only because you gave me more Int than I deserve. Hmph.

[Through grudgingly admitting your flaws, you have gained 1 wisdom.]

... Well, that's a start.

[Perks: **Sharp Wit, Gamer's Body, Gamer's Mind, Analytical**

Quirks: **Mild adhd**

Flaws: **Depression, Poorly Groomed, Borderline Asthmatic, Low Pain Threshold.** ]

Oh come on! I need to take care of those. Somehow.

Since I seemed to have time, I disable skill alerts, sit, and start meditating.

Of course, I was interrupted in exactly 50 minutes by the sound of crunching leaves.


	2. Chapter 2:Busted

Author's Note: Holy shit, already having faves and follows! I feel incredibly vindicated in not letting this languish on my phone after typing it up. Make sure to leave reviews. Especially if I make any blatant lore errors. The positive response so far inspired me to write more, right here, right now!

I immediately scramble to my feet, hand moving to the sword at my side.

"Brall, it's u-You're not Brall. And you're not one of us."

My eyes glance up and down this guy. Can I take him? Probably not. I don't have the skills, or the Skills, to use the weapon in my hand.

"Easy, I, uh, don't know how I got here, I had to finish off a crippled Beowolf, and I didn't know anyone else was in the area. I was waiting for that barrier to fall so I could try to get my bearings and get somewhere safe!" I babble instinctively. Ok, I was bullshitting a little. I don't know exactly how I got here, but I do know who brought me here.

"...So you stole SDC property, off the cooling corpse of one of my comrades, no less?"

"I wasn't going to keep it! It'd be stupid to even if I planned on it. Given the fact that it's obviously recognizable?"

"...Anyway, the test is a obvious failure. I just have to figure out what to do with you."

"I don't think it was. It stopped me from leaving and you from entering until just now, right? Maybe there were Beowolves already inside?"

"But how could you have gotten in?"

"I dunno, someone with a teleportation semblance?"

The Sdc man sighs.

"Keep your hands where I can see 'em. Don't touch the sword unless a grimm's after us, and inform me of any grimm you see first. And I'm gonna need your name to call into HQ."

"...H-Greyhart. My friends call me Hart, and, to my eternal shame, my parents call me Grustlon."

The SDC guy just chuckles. "Y'know, if you hadn't robbed Brall's corpse, I think I'd like you. Speaking of which, you get the honors of dragging him to the APC." He pauses. "Samuelson."

I just groan. At least 'Brall' looks like he isn't that heavy. I struggle to lift him by the shoulders. "Which...Way..." I wheeze.

By the time we reach the vehicle, my Strength has increased to 8, which, thank god, is enough for me to comfortably carry him. If Samuelson thinks it suspicious how I adjust, he doesn't say anything. He covers the guy with a sheet.

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up?"

I pause, consulting my vague memories of not actually watching much rwby. "Getting shot with a pimp cane. Not my proudest moment."

[Lie partially successful!

By lying your ass off, you have unlocked the **Deception** skill

Previous life experience has leveled this skill to 10!]

Fuck you, Death.

[Fuck you too, Dead.]

"You're telling me that Roman Torchwick shot you... And you lived? Hell, you don't even have a scrap of aura. If this is true... You'd make a hell of a security guard, that's for sure. Or maybe all that pudge just blocked it, eh?"

My eyebrow twitches and I say nothing.

"Sword in the back, kiddo." I sigh and comply before stepping into the front passenger seat of the vehicle. The machinery is placed inside by Samuelson. I take a moment to observe him and blink.

[ **Jonas Samuelson** lv 10

Hp 1000/1000

Mp 0/0

Ap ?

Through repeated use, Observe has reached level 2!]

I immediately repeat it.

[Ap 2000/2000]

Holy shit. So even with my new 8 strength I'd need about 75 hits without dust, with the sword to take him down. Eeeeeeeep. With dust it would be a far better 20-ish, but...he's also a human. I'm not ready to kill a human anyway. No way, no how.

[Gamer's Mind has activated.]

There goes my nausea, and here comes the existential crisis. Still, I did sign up for it, and it's helping me think rationally.

"So, Samuelson, where are we going?"

"Talking to one of the bosses. He wanted to know how this project would work, after all."

I feel sudden dread.

[Sense Danger unlocked and set to level 1!

Danger detected.]

Oh, shut UP! Didn't I turn off skill notifications, anyway?

[You did. I turned it back on.]

You magnificent bastard. Get out of my options!

[You're not my dad!]

You have a dad?!

[...Shut up.]

In any case, no harm done, I guess.

Time passes swiftly. I meditate. We get there and I check my meditation. Oh, and my health, mana, etc, i totally spaced when looking at it earlier. I blame the adhd. Or my dissociativeness, which apparently doesn't merit a flaw.

 **[Meditation** level 13, 57% to next level

130% faster aura recovery

+13 Wis

+13 Int

Only 10% effect when not actively meditating.

Hp:300/300

Mp:1115/1115

Ap:0/1115]

I'm so glad I have Gamer's Mind. It's probably the only reason I managed to make it through those sessions, given the adhd.

"Right, wait here. No sudden movements or anything." I look around, wincing as I see the security forces with weapons pointed at me and nod.

After ten minutes I'm gestured out of the car and step out, so I do. White hair, but I'm sure I'm not working with the actual leader of SDC, too young, but a guy. I don't know about any brothers! Dammit, why didn't I insist on a world I knew?

[Because I'd have refused that term.]

Touché.

"You must be Greyhart. I am Whitley, second in line to inherit the Schnee Dust Company." He sneers. "While ordinarily we would see you in prison, I hear tell that you're a up-and-coming fighter. While I despise fighters... Well, we do have a new post on our roster to fill. You're obviously too stupid to be a spy, but just in case, check his teeth and for a tail."

What followed was possibly the most embarrassing five minutes of my life.

"Excellent. I'm going to call in a favor and get a live Beowolf here. You're going to fight it. Unless you'd rather go to prison?"

A moment of terror, ruthlessly purged by Gamer's Mind. "Fine." I hiss with a glare.

[You know what, I'm feeling generous. This is far too entertaining to end so soon.

Through absorption of soul energy, you have spiritually advanced to **level 4**! +150 **hp/ap/mp** max, 15 points to spend.]

Oh thank GOD.

I quickly add my points to Wisdom using mental commands, praying to any god that can listen.

[By increasing your base **Wisdom** to 20, **Adhd** has been negated.

By having over 20 **wisdom** and **intelligence,** you have unlocked Aura

Aura level 1, 0% xp

Active costs 500 ap/minute

Passively increases str, dex, con by 5%

Actively increases str, dex, con by additional 50%

Passively and actively negates 75% damage, 1 point of damage takes 3 aura, but you cannot be critically hit in the Aura.

Aura replenishes at 1%/10 wis per minute.]

Oh, thank God. Er. Death.

[My pleasure.]

"Until this fight...Lock him up. He can have the sword, since it was worth this risk."

I was still totally fucked, of course.


	3. Chapter 3:Grendel

Chapter 3: Grendel

Author's Note:Apparently, FFN doesn't let you update twice within 24 hours! Well, that's not true, but it doesn't tell people that you updated or bump you up the line. I am a very sad author right now.

Also, FFN is a INCREDIBLY fickle beast. It was legitimately a challenge to manage to get it to show me as having updated at all once I uploaded this, and even now it refuses to admit to the fact that I have a third chapter. Sigh.

* * *

I was dumped in a conference room, since technically the SDC wasn't allowed to have prisons, being purely commercial.

"Could I have something to eat and drink, at least?"

There was a pause. "Fine." Ten minutes passed, and a two liter bottle of Old King Cola and a large pizza were put in. I immediately observe them.

[ **Ol' King Cold** , 2 liters  
Consume ~8 ounces to gain +10 Hp/Mp/Aura per second and +1 Cold damage to all attacks for 10 seconds. Stacks by duration.  
 **Cheese Pizza, Large, Decent**  
The lowercase gamer's Ambrosia.  
Consume a standard slice to gain +150 hp, or, allow to cool for 200 hp and +1 Con for 1 minute. Duration stacks.]

"That's all you're getting for today. Beowolf's arriving tomorrow."

I sigh, nabbing a slice and checking my inventory, which is naturally empty except... I have one lien. I try to call for that to be converted to pennies and immediately have 30 cents deposited in my hand.

[Through an action, a skill has been unlocked:  
 **Banking** level 1:Converts money at 70% fee, .2% annual interest compounded daily.]

Apparently, a lien was about a dollar. I shrug and split the pile into 14, 14, 1 to flip and one in my pocket and sit on one side, betting repeatedly and changing sides until I actually win about 30 flips in.

[By succeeding at a basic game of chance, your Luck has increased to 2! You crazy person. Seriously, stop betting against yourself. You're not getting any more points for that.]

Fair.

I drop and start doing pushups, marveling at the fact that I can now actually do them! When I start to tire, I activate Aura and keep going for a few more pushes, deactivate it and continue working. I collapse after about ten minutes of this, panting.

[Through constant physical exertion, **Strength** has increased to 10!  
Through pushing beyond your limits over and over, you have increased your **Endurance** to 12!  
 **Aura** has reached level 2; new cost 490/minute  
+60% physical stats active, +6% passive. Damage conversion rate is now 10:27.]

I sit up and meditate without disabling skill alerts, and am quickly shaken out of it by the 'ping' of level 14 about 15 minutes later. Of course, by that time about 70% of my Aura is back, so I throw myself back into the pushups with periodic Aura enhancement.

I repeat this pattern over and over. It's boring, but goddammit my life depends on my winning against that beowolf. And even with the sword I wasn't particularly confident. In fact, I was dreading the fiiii-

Oh shit.

[ **Sense Danger** has reached level 3!]

...3? It's dangerous enough to SKIP a level!?

Oh, shit. I'm fucked.

 _ **PUSHUP HARDER DAMN ARM MUSCLES! A THOUSAND JUMPING JACKS! HUT HUT!**_

By the time they come in, I've somehow achieved 20 strength, 20 endurance(10 with my asthma) and 10 dexterity (from the definitely not a entire thousand jumping jacks). Also, level 15 Meditation, and 3 aura.

If I was fighting a ordinary Beowolf, odds are I'd be totally fine. But the room they led me into didn't contain a ordinary Beowolf.

Fortunately, it was still caged, but it was staring at me with evil intent.

[ **Beowolf Δ; GRENDEL** level ?  
Hp: 3000/3000  
Mp:?  
Ap:0]

Hang on, wasn't Grendel the monster/giant that fought Beowulf?

[So what? Beowolves are monsters.]

Hmph.

"Do I at least get Dust bullets and crystals?" I ask casually, super glad I pulled the food and drink into my inventory once the pizza chilled. There's a sigh and I'm tossed a pouch of bullets and more carefully handed the crystal pouch. I nod and load Fires into the Saber carefully. The SDC security leaves quickly before remotely dropping the cage door. As I trigger the Saber's melee dust mode, Grendel pounces and I frantically slice at him. It. Whatever.

[(5*21.6+5*21.5)*1.05=(215.5)*1.05= **226.275** damage!  
Your enemy's vulnerability to Fire increases this to **327** damage(rounded up)

Through use of a sword, you have obtained the skill **Bladed Weapo** ]

Shit, I did it again. I eat a fist to the chest.

[ **-540 aura** ]

Holy shit, almost half my aura in a single hit! That fucking hurt, too! Rage surges through me. Muscles ripple with new strength as I abandon all rational thought and simply hew at the monster before me, who growls and does likewise, heedless of my new skill, [Primal Fury], which increases my Strength, Constitution and Dexterity in exchange for setting Charisma to 0, decreasing Intelligence immensely, oh, and aggroing every Grimm in a 200 meter radius. Not to mention the 1000 mana per minute.

I was roused from my fury by a ping and a label saying [Mana exhausted. All mana based skills disabled.] and observed Grendel.

 **[Hp:100/3000]**

I glance at my own health and blanch, scrambling for pizza.

 **[Hp:10/770]**

I quickly gulp down a slice, ducking away from a attack before going in for the kill, setting the tip of the blade between Grendel's eyes before pulling the firing trigger. He fades away, and I quickly inventory everything and collect the soul before anyone sees that he dropped items and Lien. I'd look later.

I hear a round of sarcastic applause from a loudspeaker. "Not bad at all, Grustlon." I can hear the sneer. "Now I'll offer you a choice. Go to Beacon. Join a team with my sister there. Or, you can go to prison."

Huh, despite his attitude in general, he apparently still liked family. Or was at least sucking up to the heir apparent. I nod. "Beacon."

Wait, do they accept anyone over 18?

[What adult? Grustlon is 17.]

You sly bastard. You knew that I'd end up there, didn't you?!

[No idea what you're talking about.]

"Why me, though?"

"You've proven that you're reasonably competent. I... My sisters are apparently suicidal numbskulls. But maybe, just maybe you can keep her safe."

Made sense, i suppose. Wait. Me. Competent.

That's new.

Putting myself down aside, I nod again. "Will I actually get decent gear, then?"

"I'll arrange something, yes."  
With that I'm sent off to one of the more private barracks. Apparently, Brall was a low ranking officer, and since they haven't replaced him his room is free.

When I'm in private, I take a moment to look at the inventorized items.

Holy shit that's a sword.

[ **Sword of Beowulf, durability** 9999999999/9999999999 requires **Beowulf** title. Inflicts 5,000% Str damage. **Unblockable**.]

Oh my god that's sweet. How do I get that title?

 **[Beowulf:** Unlocked by actually being Beowulf. Scrub.]

Oh, FUCK you death.

[I've said it before, I'll say it again; Fuck you, dead.]

Well, maybe it'll make a decent mantelpiece...

As for the other items, I have a wolf ear and a decent patch of fur. I also seem to have 200 Lien. Sweet. Given that apparently each is about a dollar.  
I stash the ear and fur idly into the fetish, not bothering to check if it increases the bonus just yet.  
I turn to my new skills.

[Primal Fury level 1, 10% xp, 1000 mp/minute  
Increases all physical statistics by 75%  
Charisma=0  
Reduces Intelligence by 60%  
+25% damage  
Grimm within 200 meters become aware of and aggressive towards you, gaining the buff [Fury's Feeding]

Fury's Feeding:+25% all damage, -25% defenses]

Shit. On the one hand, that was damn strong. On the other, it was nearly suicidal to use on the field. The Int penalty was pretty much a killer too. Not to mention this is a skill you can't just grind. Too dangerous.

[Bladed Weapons level 3, 65% xp  
+15% damage to all blades  
+3% attack speed with all blades  
+3% ease of use of all blades]

I reexamine the Fetish.

[Grendel's Gimcrack  
+10% Str/Con, upgrades [Rage] to [Primal Fury], +5% Dexterity, +20% damage to canines.]

Huh, lost the 2% wis but gained massive bonuses elsewhere. Well, relative to what it had. I assume it already upgraded Rage judging by what happened.

Well, nothing left to do but examine the soul collection window.

[ **Boss Psuedospirit collected**! Reward: **Wolf Dungeon** ( _req ID Create 5_ ), 3000 exp!]

So killing bosses gives me access to dungeons if I have the right skill level. Huh. I try the whole gather energy into palm thing for most of a hour trying to create a ID before managing it. From there, I grind entering and escaping whenever I have the mana, electing to read a book whenever I don't. Apparently, Weiss was going to Beacon tomorrow, which left me to prepare. I knew I was horribly outclassed, but didn't say anything because there was a niggling thought.

Was he really sending me because he was worried about his sister, or because he recognized that that technique would draw Grimm like moths to a fire? To help his sister, or make sure she died, leaving him heir?

Current Stats:  
Level:4 Experience:3100/200(On Sleep:Level 12, 100/600)  
HP:870  
MP:1275  
AP:1275  
Strength:20(23.4)  
Constitution:20(13.4)  
Dexterity:10(11.2)  
Int:20(21.5)  
Wis:21(22.5)  
Charisma:10(5)

Formulas:  
Base HP=(level+Con)*50  
Base MP/AP=(level+int)*50


	4. Chapter 4:Suiting Up

Early(really early) in the morning, there's a knock on the door.

[Quest Obtained: **Suit Up!**

You need to get decent Hunting gear, pronto. What you have is slightly above the cut of most mooks, but you're a visible representative of Schnee Dust and Whitley refuses to have you in anything but the best.

Rewards:1000 Lien allowance, reloaded monthly, ?, perk ' **SDC Rep** '

Failure:1 month to 2 years prison time, possible death if evading arrest. ]

I mash the accept button quickly, then go answer the door.

"I brought you your weapon, Greyhart."

Struggling to carry it, Whitley stood at the door. My jaw dropped. Not only because the weapon was fucking beautiful(Ruby would probably go hyperactive seeing this thing if it can do what it looks like it can), but because HE WAS CARRYING IT. HIMSELF.

Maybe it was a trick. Maybe the staff was shitty and he was trying to distract me from it. I hit it with a quick Observe.

[ **Cerberus: Staff Mode**. Durability 1000/1000

This weapon was made for Whitley before it was learned that he had no interest in learning even basic skills, to say naught of Hunter or military elite level ones.

Modal weapon

 **Double Harpoon** ( _Claws_ ): Rapid Transport(adjustable course), ranged attacks

 **Staff** :Weak melee, strong defense, high Int buff, grants [Glyph] skill.

 **Three-section mode** ( _Fangs_ ):Strong, fast melee, skill-based defense. Extendable chain grants 20 ft reach.

Weak Attack:300% Str damage

Strong Attack:500%Dex+Str damage, 33% slower cooldown.

Ranged Attack:400% Dex damage

Dust Active: Accepts all dust tiers. +1000% of Int, double elemental effects.

Staff Int Boost:+50%

Approximate Value:Priceless]

...And I'm just being handed this?!

Then I see the reason he's struggling quite so much.

"How-How long is that owner's manual?!"

"About 1200 pages."

"Are you-you know what, never mind." The book was glowing slightly-It was a skillbook! Thank Death.

"I can't imagine how expensive this is. I'll take good care of it. And Weiss."

"Make sure you do. You have no idea how many strings had to be pulled to get you in when they already had a multiple of 4. You're also getting this helmet so you literally can't make eye contact with anyone." He pulls out a helmet with a opaque visor which I try on. Oh!

"Cameras? You cheeky little brat. Who told you how partners were selected?"

"I-You knew?"

"The whole time."

"Huh. Anyway, the rest of the armor's over there." He nods at a box outside the room. "It collapses into a belt , shoes and a jacket, so you should be able to wear it anywhere. Doesn't actually get lighter, though." I pull the articles out of the box. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm 5 times stronger than i used to be, but I feel fine as I put them on.

"...Now, as for your wardrobe, Wilikins has agreed to tutor you over scroll. You do have a scroll, right?"

"...No."

"...Wha...How?! You know what; it's fine. I'll just grab one of my spares." He shakes his head before running off and coming back with the scroll. "Here. I reset it to factory defaults and bought you a separate line. You can put in all your details later. Anyway, we have a full ten outfits for you, fit for most occasions. You may not represent the SDC as much as Weiss, but you still do."

I nod thoughtfully. "Fair enough."

"Speaking of appearance, that facial hair's going."

"Ugh, fine."

And with that and much more fussing, I was sent off to Beacon alongside Weiss, with a non-base charisma 10 higher. Thankfully, I didn't see Samuelson; a lot of pudge was gone thanks to my stat changes and he'd probably comment on it.

Before leaving, of course, I checked what SDC Rep gave me.

[ **SDC Rep**

You officially represent Schnee Dust! At least, you do a little...

-25% Rep with Faunus, automatic Hostile status among White Fang members who are aware of your identity unless dissuaded, +50% Rep with Hunters and Huntresses who are aware of your semi-official status among the SDC]

I sat on the airship near Weiss.

"So, uh... Hi, I'm Greyhart. As you may know, Whitley sent me and is basically forcing me to make sure you're safe and stuff."

"...Weiss. Not that you didn't know that." She states coldly.

"...Do you play chess? Checkers?"

"Not with you."

I think Weiss sees my presence as a personal insult, or possibly a threat.

"Listen, I think your brother sent me because he couldn't bear the idea of both his sisters intentionally putting themselves in harm's way. He even called me competent."

"What?!" She seems shocked for a moment before regaining her composure. If WHITLEY thought he was competent, then that means that he must be among the best fighters given that Whitley would never willingly compliment a hunter unless it was earned.

"Yeah, he even gave me this." I pull out Cerberus from where it's stashed and trigger full-staff mode.

"...Cerberus. The weapon that he refused to use." She comments. "That thing's worth almost half as much as my weapon."

Jeez, rub it in why don't you.

"Perhaps I spoke too soon. Chess would be lovely. Variant?"

"Normal for now." I didn't know Earth chess variants let along Remnant ones!

We battled wits for the rest of the flight, and I earned levels in Strategy and Chitchat along with some Wisdom and Intelligence, three points each to be precise. The occasional chatter back and forth also netted me five points in charisma I was oh-so-happy to have. Midflight, Jaune stumbled past looking like he was going to vomit. Barely looking, I flicked a pill and tossed a bottle of water at him. The pill landed neatly in his mouth and the bottle smacked him in the face, making him swallow reflexively as he grabs it. "Aaah, what the hell!"

"Making sure you don't puke, Motion Sickness Man. Drink. It'll help."

He gulped down the water, sighing as the urge to vomit decreases. He gave me a annoyed but grateful look before moving on. Weiss looked faintly amused for half a second before the look faded.

Goddamn, she really is a ice queen.

I took a moment to Observe her and managed to keep my jaw from dropping.

[ **Weiss Schnee** Level 60

Hp:3750/3750

Ap:7500/7500

Mp:0/0]

So, quick math, Weiss had, uh, 90 intelligence, or some sort of skill or perk that buffs aura. Either way, I feel massively outclassed.

I take a second to Observe her rapier.

[ **Myrtenaster** durability 500/500

Utilizes powdered dust to empower **Glyphs,** strengthen strikes, and strike from afar. Uses a revolver-like system to select Dust in use.

Melee damage: 750% Str/Dex

Ranged Damage:Dust Only

Dust Damage: 2000% Int, triple elemental effects.]

Holy fuck. Holy. FUCK. No wonder she said her sword was worth two of Cerberus. What would Crescent Rose be like, I wonder?

Still, mine's cooler than Weiss's. Even if it's less powerful. And it also gives me a way to get around faster!

"Uh, by the way, Weiss, could I have one of your pamphlets? I'm not actually trained in the use of dust. All I really know about it is that it should be handled with care."

She quirks a eyebrow probably wondering how I know about them(oops), then tosses me a pamphlet. Sure enough, it's a skill book! I grin and 'pocket' it. "In fact, if you have a bunch, make it four? Just in case my whole team knows as much as I do and we don't end up on the same one." She sighs and tosses more at me, rolling her eyes.

Ok, now I'm in semi-familiar territory. I watched a few episodes of RWBY. I think I should let Rubes fuck up with the dust, but intercept the fireball sneeze. I shift the staff into my hands, using it casually as a walking stick cause I'm lazy that way and besides, how is Ruby going to admire it if she can't see it? Also...Well, the increase to Int'll boost my Aura, which means it'll be less drained after I eat the Breath of Fire. Er. Sneeze of fire.

Speaking of which, I use the operating manual from my inventory.

[This skillbook teaches the skills [Proficiency: Three Section Staff, Harpoon Gun, Simple Blunt Weapons], and [Weapon Familiarity:Cerberus]. Proceed?]

Yeah, duh.

[ **Prof:Three Section Staff** , level 1:

Allows you to use the weapon without smacking yourself in the face with it!

+5% Attack Speed/Damage

1% blockrate

 **Prof:Harpoon Gun** , level 1

Whether impaling enemies or zipping along, this determines your ability to use harpoon guns!

+4% maneuverability, +2% speed when grappling.

+3% damage and accuracy with harpoon guns.

 **Simple Blunt Weapons** has synchronized with past life experience!

 **Simple Blunt Weapons** , level 10 30% experience

+50% damage with blunt weapons.

1% chance of inflicting [stun], duration of STR*1.5/enemy CON seconds

Familiarity:Cerberus level 1

Hunter weapons are complex and require dedicated training to fully master! This skill can even grant other skills that only work with Cerberus. Train by using such skills or simply using Cerberus normally.

+1% damage and mode change delay reduction.]

...Thank you, Sensei, for insisting on staff drills.

Anyway, I just sort of hang around, nodding at Jaune.

[By making 4 **Acquaintances,** you have unlocked the Reputation system!

Jaune Arc: **Acquaintance** (100/1000 to Pal)

Weiss:Cold( **Acquaintance** )(250/1000 to Cool)

Samuelson: **Acquaintance** (50/1000 to Friendly)

Whitley:Pawn...?( **Acquaintance** )(500/1000 to Tool)]

Well, that's disheartening. The two people I'm most friendly with are also the ones most likely to never actually show it.

When I see Weiss start shaking the fire dust, I move over quickly, timing my pace and jumping forward just as she sneezes, intercepting most of the flame.

[-960 Aura

+250 rep with **Weiss Schnee**

+250 rep with **Ruby Rose**

By being subjected to elemental damage, you have obtained the skill **Fire Resistance**!

 **Fire Resistance** level 1, 10% experience

-3% Fire Damage recieved

1% Aura Absorption chance]

"Are you two alright? That was very careless handling of powdered dust, shaking it like that. I have a _pamphlet_ if you'd like." My lips twitch upwards as Weiss looks shell-shocked that someone'd snark her like that.

[-100 rep with **Weiss Schnee**

+100 rep with **Ruby Rose** ]

"Wha-I-" she drops the vial, which I surreptitiously roll towards Blake with the tip of the staff I'm holding. "How DARE you?!"

Oh dear. I had the worst idea.

[No, don't you fucking dare!]

"Well, excuuuuuuse me, Princess!" Hey, Blake needed her cue.

[I hate you. I hate you so much right now.]

"It's Heiress, actually."

Yep, there it is.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally, some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

As the rest of the scene plays out as normal, I offer Rose a hand up. "Hey, I'm Greyhart. And no, I'm not telling you my first name. No offense, but I know that I'd be kinda a laughingstock if someone overheard."

"I'm Ruby! Nice to meet you!"

"So, I couldn't help but hear you admiring everyone's weapons earlier. I think you'll appreciate Cerberus."

I step back and shift my grip to the middle before thumbing one of the decorations, and the staff collapses into Fang mode. I thumb another and it rearranges into Claw. "It's a bladed sansetukon-staff-double harpoon gun. What's yours?" I asks casually.

"Oh, Crescent Rose is a high-impact sniper rifle and scythe!" She says cheerfully.

We chatter on a bit until she reaches Even More Friendly status(since apparently her 'acquaintance' level is called Friendly. Too pure for this world.)

Do I feel guilty about nudging Jaune out of the way? Yeah, kinda. But at the same time, he'd still meet all his team members. Hopefully when he realized there was one person too many, Ozpin would decide to make one team five people rather than three 3-person teams.

...Wait, did I really want to be stuck around 4 girls with no privacy? Especially given how Yang dresses. Oh well. I still had no real choice in the matter.

Oh, right, Instant Dimensions! I can find privacy that way, i guess. Thank Death.

I idly wonder what the team name would be. SXBRG? Sure it uses last names but it's the only one I can think of that forms something like a real wooooaitaminute that'd be just asking people to call us the Sex Brigade.

Bad thoughts, bad thoughts. I shake my head and dismiss the thought as I move along.

After all, I had to go to the, uh, 'giant sleepover'.

Current Stats:  
Level:4 Experience:3100/200(On Sleep:Level 12, 100/600)  
HP:870  
MP:1375  
AP:1375  
Strength:20(23.4)  
Constitution:20(13.4)  
Dexterity:10(11.2)  
Int:22(23.5)  
Wis:23(24.5)  
Charisma:15*

Formulas:  
Base HP=(level+Con)*50  
Base MP/AP=(level+int)*50

*Removal of Poor Grooming removed -50%.


	5. Chapter 5:Falling Strategies

Chapter 5:Falling Strategies

I slept to gain the stored levels, waking up feeling incredible.

Aww yeah, level 12! 40 more stat points I really shouldn't spend.

I'd managed to buy a set of cards, so when I saw Yang awake, I waved at her.

"Hey! Wanna play cards before we head out?" I needed some extra Luck. "Standard poker, friendly or low stakes." She hesitates and nods. I convert 5 lien to pennies, incidentally leveling **Banker** to 2(65% fee  & .4% interest). "Here, we'll use these as tokens. You good with 1 lien to 10 tokens?"

"Oh, thank _god_ , when I saw you with Weiss I thought your idea of 'low stakes' would be betting houses or something." She jokes before accepting half the pile.

What followed was a vicious game where, in spite of my shitty luck, I bluffed her more than once, managing to pick up 3 more luck and a charisma before we had to get ready. I'd also earned 400 Reputation with her, though I was still at 'unwilling audience'. I also ended up losing all my lien and summoned 45 lien in cards before tossing them to her, reclaiming the tokens.

Ok, so, I know there's an important timeline...Ah, yes, Tukson's gets hit after Blake's fully resolved, right. That's where I'll derail all the Bad Stuff, I decide. Surely just saving him could have long term consequences, especially if I make him spill everything he still knows about the Fang.

Add that to the calendar.

Anyway, after breakfast-which I quietly store quite a bit of sneakily-we're brought out to the launchpad and given the speech, which mostly conforms to canon, except...

"This year, we have a extra student. Grustlon Greyhart. Due to the fact that it would be unfair to reduce a team's size, instead he will be partnered with two people once he reaches the ground."

Yesssss.

...I would literally kill (Grimm) for a harem. I'll simply have to grind that charisma.

When I'm launched, I wonder what the falling rules are anyway.

[1d6 damage per 10 fee-Wait. What?! That can't be... Oh god, I fucked up. Anyway, yeah, dnd rules. 1d6 damage per 10 feet, but without a hard cap.]

Huh. With that in mind, i simply grapple in the direction Weiss fell in, toggling my glasses to turn into the helmet they really are before I plow straight into the ground, incurring 70 aura damage I straight up ignore.

I spring to my feet. So happy about that Dex boost. I trigger the rest of the armor too. "Weiss? Where are you?" I call out casually as I begin to walk. I hear a growl from behind me and immediately snap off a thwack with my staff.

[ **Critical Hit!**  
2*(3*23.4)*1.2*1.5=3.6*70.2=253*1.01=256 damage!]

I whirl around quickly.

[ **Alpha Beowolf** level 30  
Hp:744/1000  
Mp:?  
Ap:0]

I duck out of the way of a retaliatory strike as I fire up my red Dust. I smash the butt of Cerberus into it's gut as it leaps at me.

A sense of danger washes over me and I slam the staff backwards, hearing a whimper in response.

Suddenly, the Alpha's demeanour shifts. It sniffs at the Gimcrack and recoils in terror. Before I fully process that, I've switched to Fang, activated Aura for a brief moment and struck upwards, splitting the Alpha in two before lashing out behind me again.

I hear a ring of steel on steel. "Hey, watch where you're swinging that!" I turn and see Weiss, who blocked my swing.

"Then don't sneak up on me like that!" I retort hotly. I must have intercepted the pack that encounters Weiss shortly after Ruby leaves her, sure enough, Ruby pops up shortly after. "Hey, I heard fighting, is everything ok?" She slices through a beowolf, instantly killing them as per usual.

"I'm fine, thanks. Especially with you two here."

Weiss doesn't respond, staring past me at where I killed the Alpha Beowolf.

"Greyhart... What the everloving fuck is that?"

I glance where she's pointing.

Oh. Oh. Oh, fuck.

"Uh... It's my semblance! Hoarder! I can store things, and when I kill things sometimes they drop cool stuff. Lemme tell you, there's nothing like killing a cockroach and having a sword-albeit a shitty one-appear." I chuckle sheepishly. I was very, very glad that the Elven webcomic didn't exist in this world.

"...I don't believ-Wait. Does that mean that that fur's from a Grimm?!"

"Noooooot necessarily. It could just be wolf fur that my Semblance decided to drop..." I hedge. I scoop it up before she can protest. I do NOT need more attention. I toss Ruby the lien cards that can dropped. "They're legit, don't worry. Where they come from is a mystery, though. Get yourself something nice, go to a bakery, something."

[+500 reputation with Ruby Rose]

She squeals at the idea of being able to buy her own cookies. Eep.

Weiss looks at me suspiciously. "And you feel no urge to get it tested?!"

"Maybe I do, but maybe I also feel the urge not to be tossed into a room with nearly dead grimm to kill over and over. Maybe I just plan to do something anonymously about it. My point is, shut up. Seriously. Tell nobody." I turn Cerberus to staff mode and bop her on the head. "Understand, Princess?"

"Ugh! Fine, whatever. And you! How can you be so nonchalant about this?!" She makes eye contact with Ruby and I casually de-helmet as she turns back to look at me. "Oh. Oh no. I'm not going to be on a team with you dumbasses!"

"Yes, actually, you are."

"God DAMMIT!"

The rest of the Grimm seem to have run off while we were distracted. Guess they don't like Grendel's smell, hehe. Somehow it hasn't rotted at all, thankfully. Magic wolf ear.

In any case, I stay mostly quiet as the two get lost. Gotta let things play out as usual, cmon...Not that I have any better a sense of direction. After all, they worked it out. When suggested that we hitch a ride on a Nevermore, I volunteer to steer it if need be.

This is going to be cool. Or stupid. Or both.

* * *

As it turns out, it was both. Fortunately, unlike in the story, we had a handhold-Cerberus! I had impaled both harpoons into the Giant Nevermore, one on each side of it's neck, and we were currently holding onto the middle section of it. After a few minutes, Ruby debarked. "Weiss, hop down. I'll take this down...manually." I smirk.

"You're insane. You're BOTH fucking insane." With that, she hops down. I re-grip Cerberus as if it was a set of reins, then pull sharply to one side with one hand, reaching down to start ripping out feathers. I pause, then shift tacks, pulling out a Gravity Dust crystal.

God, I hope this works.

I insert it into the middle section of Cerberus, and the reaction is immediate.

[ **Debuff Inflicted:Grounded!**

Gravity x404%]

Holy shit. The Giant Nevermore suddenly stops ascending, barely managing to stay aloft for a few moments before starting to fall. I wrench Cerberus around to aim it.

No, we're going to miss... I wrench out the harpoons and aim them down, firing both quickly and triggering the retract.

"EVERYBODY MOVE!"

I am perhaps the first Huntsman to experience the glory of driving a Giant Nevermore directly into the ground, down onto the uplifted sting of a Deathstalker.

And it is GLORIOUS.

I backflip off the Nevermore as it begins to fade, faceplanting because I have almost no actual acrobatic ability god dammit. Way to ruin the moment. Still, the bird seems to be crushing the Deathstalker under it's weight...along with itself.

"HIT THEM WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" I yell. And they're happy to oblige. Yang does the jump into mouth thing, but Nora doesn't do the sky high leap. Weiss finishes them off with a blast of Ice Dust.

And soon enough, both Grimm vanish, replaced by items and Psuedosouls.

[ _ **Boss Defeated**_ : Giant Nevermore! Rewards: 5000 XP, Bird Dungeon

 **Psuedosoul Collected** :2000 XP!]

I pause. "Whaddya know. It's not the Fall that kills you. It's the Snow."

Everyone around me except Yang groans.

[Reputation +50:Ren, Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha

Reputation+75 Weiss

Reputation+100 Nora

Reputation+600 Yang! Reputation Level Up: Pun Pal( **Friendly** )]

Current Stats:  
Level:12 Experience:7100/600(On Sleep:Level 20, 850/1000)  
HP:870  
MP:1375  
AP:1375  
Strength:20(23.4)  
Constitution:20(13.4)  
Dexterity:10(11.2)  
Int:22(23.5)  
Wis:23(24.5)  
Charisma:15

Unspent Points=40


	6. Chapter 6:Sleeping Arrangements

Author's Note: I'm really not proud of last chapter. Fortunately, this one will hopefully be better!

"It is now time to announce the teams." First, he goes through the NPC teams and I take my time going over the loot I collected. Nevermore tongue? Fetish. Skill:Airstrike? Hoo boy, learn that immediately.

... Deathstalker venom?!

[Deathstalker Venomx5

5 full doses of deathstalker venom. A half dose will induce sleep. A full dose will instead cause paralysis. Under a half dose, it instead causes a penalty to Dex-about 66% at 40% of a dose.]

Niiiiiiiiice. I keep looking.

[Desert Sting: Spear/Longbow

This spearbow fires full Dust crystals for massive damage, expending an entire crystal with a single arrow. In spear mode it instead inflicts light poisons.

Spear Mode: 600% Str damage, 200% Dex damage, inflicts Poison(deathstalker) 5% per strike.

Bow Mode:1000% Dex damage, 4000% Int damage w/dust, 3 times dust effect.

Cannot use dust in Spear Mode.]

That. Was a hell of a ranged option. Unbuffed, I could do a thou in a single shot, easy! Tad expensive though.

I glance at the next one.

[Wing Boots

Negate 100% fall damage

+20% Dex

+20% glide ability]

Huh. Neat.

I glance at Airstrike

[Airstrike level 1, cost 250 mp

Inflict death from above! Be the terror from the skies!

Multiply damage by 10% of downward velocity in mph. In other words, 100 mph =10x damage.

Can combo.]

Hoooooooboy. That was going to see some use. I glance through my alerts, noting that Cerberus has achieved level 2 Familiarity and I have gaining 2 levels in Harpoon and a level in Sansetsukon.

"And now, finally, our one and only 5 person team this year, you retrieved the white knight pieces. You will be known as team Sex Brigade, led by-"

"What?!"-Weiss, blushing furiously

"Headmaster!"-Glynda, glaring with her wand in hand.

"Bwah?!"-Yang, who's blushing lightly

"What's sex?"-Rose, who, despite proclaiming innocence, is blushing harder than Weiss. No mean feat, considering how pale Weiss is.

"Ask your sister."-Me

Blake simply glowers with a moderate blush.

"Oh, fine, team Saxonburg. Led by Weiss Schnee."

I lean over to the blushing blonde and murmur, "If we really were a sex brigade, wouldn't we have a Yangbang every night?~"

Oh god where has this confidence come from.

Perhaps it's sheer shock, but I get a giggle and +400 Reputation.

"Damn right we would. But that'd be weird, Rose is my sis!"

Aww. No sister threesomes. I almost pout but resist.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year."

His eyes are on me. Oh. Oh shit. Does he say that normally? Did I do something? Does he know about my real power? That I don't actually have a Semblance? Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

That mini heart attack aside, everything seems to be in order. Only when we get to the room...

"Wait, there are only four beds here."

"God dammit headmaster!" I growl. "Well, we have three options. I can skip a night of sleep, two of you can share a bed, or I can take the floor, and I'm not taking the floor. Don't worry though, I seriously don't actually need sleep. I can just...meditate or something."

"Bullshit. Ruby, c'mon. It'll be just like that time you had that nightmare."

"Yaaaaaang, you said you wouldn't bring that up!" She whines, but they end up in the same bed-after changing, during which I'm nearly literally kicked out after not moving fast enough.

I climb into the leftover bed, which thankfully is in a corner of the room so I can pretend I'm only in a room with one sexy girl, as opposed to four aaaaaand this isn't helping.

I close my eyes and simply meditate for eight hours. It wasn't like I was going to spend those stat points!

I'm shocked out of my 'sleep' with a whistling sound. Oh hey, I'm halfway from 20 to 21! I do a quick check.

[Meditation Level 20 46%

+200% recovery rate

+20 Wis

+20 Int

20% effect passively.]

Ok, sweet, same as befooooowait a minute, 20 percent?! Aw, heck yeah!

Anyway, I jump out of bed with a faked yawn. Blake gives me a mildly suspicious look. "What?"

"Your breathing was too slow, yet even. Were you asleep?"

"Of course I was! What else would I be doing?"

"There's also the fact that your aura dropped significantly in intensity when you woke up, Greyhart."

Oooooooooh shit. "Well, uh... I swear, I wasn't really awake... I just, well, meditated. Shut off most of my perception of the outside world... Focused on my aura."

"You bastard, you were training without us?" Yang gives me a mock hurt look. "And why not just do that on the floor?"

"Because I rather like having a back that isn't in agonizing paaaaaoh."

"Aura. Use it."

Sigh. She had a point. "Even if I'd thought of that, you two looked adorable cuddling like that, anyway."

[+50 rep Ruby Rose

+75 rep Yang]

They blush lightly before starting in on Weiss. Soon enough she agrees to unpack.

"Um... You guys do that. I have zero skills at cleaning or organizing things, and I keep all my stuff on me, so...yeah."

"Wait, what! You don't want to give this room your own little touch?" Yang looked shocked.

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just get in the way."

"But what about your stuff? I know you can store it all, but isn't there anything you want to-" Ruby started to say.

"No." I say bluntly. "I don't have anything." I walk away. "Remember, class is at nine."

[-50 Rep with Team SXBRG] Oh, fuck off.

"...What do you think he meant by that?" Blake asks quietly.

Weiss looks up, determined.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

* * *

Current Stats:  
Level:12 Experience:7100/600(On Sleep:Level 20, 850/1000)  
HP:870(Recovers 1.88%/min)  
MP:1900(Recovers 3.78%/min)(+550 w/Cerberus)  
AP:1900(Recovers 3.78%/min)(+550 w/Cerberus)  
Strength:20(23.4)  
Constitution:20(13.4)  
Dexterity:10(11.2)  
Int:22(26)(37 w/Cerberus)  
Wis:23(27)  
Charisma:15

Unspent Points=40


	7. Chapter 7:Record Timing

Chapter 7:Record Timing.

Given that I have Aura, there's nothing dissuading me from slamming my head roughly into a door multiple times. I pause after the third time. "Aaaaagh!" I punch at the door as it opens, Professor Port standing right behind it. And no selling my punch.

Oh yeah, I'm a wimp.

[ **Punch** has attained level 7! 135% damage.]

Really not the time.

"Uh... Sorry professor. Just undergoing some mild personality conflicts and you moved the door I was going to punch. ...This isn't your room, is it?"

"No, just my classroom. And that's quite alright, just know that if you need to talk about it, it'd be better to do that than irritate Professor Goodwitch by inflicting property damage."

"...Right you are, Professor. Very sorry, again. It's just... I was uprooted entirely without warning and they were expressing disappointment that I didn't want to help decorate the room! Decorate it with what, my own blood?" I huff unhappily. "Besides, I'm not much of a decorative or cleaning person anyway."

Dear lord, I'd better be able to summon something vaguely human to take care of my chores, and soon.

"Ah, yes, I see. And did you try telling them that?"

"Well...no." I huff. "But they should have dropped the damn subject the second time I said no."

"Maybe so, young lad, but then you shouldn't be on such a hair trigger that you blow up at the slightest provocation. Any other issues?"

"Yeah, apparently Ozpin 'forgot' to add a fifth bed to the room, so Yang and Ruby had to bunk together.

"I'll see if I can fix that." He strokes his moustache. "If that's all?"

"Yessir. Thank you, sir." I salute smartly before leaving.

"Smart kid, even if he has temper issues..." He mumbles as he prepares for lessons. ...

"Wait, he's on my attendance roster for first class!"

I use my scroll to contact Wilikins and ask for assistance with picking a outfit. I step into a bathroom and quickly swap into what he recommends before heading back to the dorm and wait did the rest of my team just run past me?

I turn and instead run behind them.

* * *

Meanwhile, far away.

"You're tellin' me that you couldn't think of ANY other way to reduce Miss Schnee's attitude to a manageable level?"

"Without unduly interfering with them, correct. Now please, Mr. Branwen, show some restraint, put away your scythe, and we can talk like rational people?"

"Oh, we're so past talking. No, we... Are going to go out on a pub crawl!"

"What."

"Oh yes, it'll be great. If we're *lucky* we'll have a nice night on the town and forget all this in the morning."

Ozpin's face rapidly pales as the word sinks in. "No."

"Yes."

"Those fucking pinups are STILL selling like Fire Dust!"

"And it was just bad luck that someone gave me a black wig. But even with that, I'm still not convinced you just mistook me for Sis."

"Please, just stab me a few times."

"Hmm. No."

I do my best to stay awake throughout the class, even taking notes in case I get a bonus for it. Sure enough, after the first page...

[Through continued action, you have unlocked the skill Note-Taking!

Previous life experience has leveled this skill to 2. You lazy bum.]

Shaddup!

I check the bonuses quickly.

[ **Note-Taking** level 2, 36% experience

+1% int

+2% rate of learning knowledge skills

Can learn fighting skills at .4% speed by watching and taking notes.]

... Only two-fifths of a percent?! Jesus. I needed to powerlevel this if I wanted to get ANYTHING out of watching people fight.

Fortunately, I had literal hours to do it in, and I could chatter too!

Not that I did. I simply scribbled away about anything sounding even vaguely useful and soon gained a few levels. Yes! Level 6 notetaking.

I look up just as he asks for a volunteer. "I'll do it." Port nods, calling up his aura monitoring program as I unclip Cerberus from my back, hopping down to the center of the room. It was currently in staff mode.

He unleashed the Boartabusk, which I quickly Observed.

Oh shit, it's level 40. I duck out of the way of it's first lunge, smacking it on the neck with the staff. It looks wary on it's next charge, managing to swerve to hit me. Ouch, there goes 240 aura. I smash at one of it's eyes, getting a pained squeal.

It starts spinning suddenly. Oh, oh shit, it's going Sonic! I try to duck out of the way, but it smashes into me, draining my Aura by 450.

No more nice Huntsman. I switch to Fang mode, ignoring Port's shocked gasp and starting to deliver strike after strike, pausing when I hear the advice to strike the stomach before tangling one end of the sansetsukon around it's legs and pulling it up... And then skewering it with the other end.

"Well... Well done, young man. Class... Dismissed."

Port looks deeply disturbed.

"I must tell the Headmaster about this..."

* * *

"Whitley, it's me, Weiss. I have a few questions about Hart..."

* * *

Current Stats:  
Level:12 Experience:7100/600(On Sleep:Level 20, 850/1000)

HP:870(Recovers 1.88%/min)  
MP:1933(Recovers 3.78%/min)(+550 w/Cerberus)  
AP:1933(Recovers 3.78%/min)(+550 w/Cerberus)  
Strength:20(23.4)  
Constitution:20(13.4)  
Dexterity:10(11.2)  
Int:22(26.66)(37.66 w/Cerberus)  
Wis:23(27)  
Charisma:15

Unspent Points=40


	8. Chapter 8:Worst Aid

Author's note:Yes, I know Blake obviously wasn't involved in the FRR, but it hits close to home anyway.

* * *

I glance at my schedule. Okay, lunch, then a hour to themselves, then Peach's class, then another hour, then dinner, some more time, and sleep. Huh. Seemed awful light.

Wait, who the hell is Peach? Huh, First Aid prof, apparently.

As I sit in the cafeteria, a small distance from the proper members of RWBY, I'm reminded of the food fight scene. Just because I didn't watch much rwby doesn't mean I didn't catch the sillier stuff! How did they do that anyway?

Oh, right, Aura. Wait.

Why the FUCK am I not training that?! I casually blaze my aura as i eat, getting a few raised eyebrows, including from the rest of my team. I examine the food as my aura drains.

[ **Chicken, Whole(Excellent)**  
Contains 50 ounces of meat  
+50 AP/HP per ounce  
Provides strength training of intensity .01 for 1 minute per ounce]

Wait, so chicken literally makes me stronger? Drooooool. Sure, that's really low intensity, but I'll take it. Wait, what even is training intensity...?

...Death?

Huh, must be away or not feel like dealing with this shit.

[It's the latter.]

Well, fuck you too. I casually grab a knife and cut a decent piece of chicken, proceeding to pick at it in such a way that it keeps my aura nearly full as it shines merrily. While I do that, I start Observing other dishes.

Why did they have whole watermelons? And baguettes? Who designed this menu?! When lunch is over I casually inventory anything likely to spoil that hasn't been touched, netting a cool five chickens, among other things.

I was sure they wouldn't mind if they knew my real Semblance, even if I did get even more raised eyebrows. "Have you ever EATEN field rations?" I ask the nearest person to raise a eyebrow, and their eyes widen in understanding.

"But wouldn't those go bad?"

"Nope, not with my semblance."

They nod as I take my leave. I ' _accidentally_ ' drop a note in front of Blake as I pass her. Unbeknownst to me, the moment I'm out, Weiss starts talking.

"So. I did a little digging on Mr. Social over there, aaaaand as it turns out, well... I _might _ have learned a little more than I should."

"Guys, should we **really** be talking about him behind his back?" Ruby asks nervously. "I'm sure if he wanted to talk about it, he would have, and if he wants to, he will."

"Hey, after the way he stormed out and is shunning us, I think we need to know what set him off." Blake chimes in.

"I don't know about this..."

"Oh, lighten up, Ruby. It can't be that bad, and we're not going to tell anyone else." Yang puts her arm around Ruby lightly, as if to keep her seated.

"Yeah, about that... Both of his parents were killed in the Faunus Rights Revolution."

"What?!" Yang and Ruby say. Blake just sort of...pales.

"Yeaaaaah. Apparently, they were...civilian casualties. They lived in the middle of nowhere, actually pretty well defended against Grimm. According to the autopsy, it's impossible to tell where the bullets that killed them came from since so many passed through the area where they sheltered. Miraculously, Hart was untouched. Apparently, ever since he's lived in a orphanage."

If Blake was already pale, then now she was _ashen_. Silence descends upon the table.

"We should take him out shopping." Yang suggests, if only to break the silence.

"DID SOMEBODY SAY SHOPPING?"

"Nora, when did you...?"

* * *

I feel a sudden surge of dread.

[Reputation with Team RWBY +250!  
Reputation with Ruby Rose +200!  
Reputation with Blake Belladonna +150!

Through accurately sensing danger, Sense Danger has reached level 5!]

 _ **Oh god it's skipping levels again.**_ Also, where is this reputation coming from?!

Anyway, since I have nothing better to do, I ask for directions to Oobleck's classroom. I carefully crack the door open, and sure enough, there's a class. I sit outside and start taking notes.

After all, I'm from another world, and frankly, I could use all the history I can get.

Oh my god, I've metamorphosed from a geek into a bookworm.

Perhaps it's because of the more advanced subject matter, or because of the fact that so much more notes can actually be taken, but by the time I have to head to Peach's, **Notetaking's** at level 12. At the same time, **Remnant History** has achieved level 10, giving me a 20% chance of being able to answer any basic question, 10% for more advanced ones, and 5% or less for specialized concerns. Sweet. Now maybe if I'm called on I won't look totally incompetent.

I head to Professor Peach's classroom. I pick a empty seat, and the rest of **SXBRG** fills in nearby. I just can't win today, can I?

"Hey. Hey, Hart." I try to ignore Blake, reading through my notes as if being diligent. "HART. Look, we're sorry about being insistent about the decorating, alright?"

"...Fine. I'm sorry for yelling at you guys. It's not your fault."

Blake winces for some reason as I say that, but I still get 25 reputation from the whole team...and 250 rep with Blake?! Where? How?

Professor Peach enters the room and I snap to attention. The first thing I notice is that she's absolutely BEAUTIFUL, damn.

"Welcome to First Aid. I can see by the looks on your faces that about two fifths of you don't know why we even have this class, and half of you don't care. You!" She points at me. "Tell me, why do we learn first aid?"

"Because some genius decided that we shouldn't awaken the aura of every civilian on Remnant. Oh, and also because of poisons, infected injuries, illnesses, and what happens if your Aura is broken."

[+1500 reputation with Professor Peach! Your reputation level has changed from Worthless Student to Has Potential.  
+200 faction reputation with Beacon Academic Students]

She produces a pen out of nowhere and points it at me suddenly. Naturally, I flinch.

Give me a break, this is Remnant, the pen could be her weapon!

"You. I like you. As for why we don't awaken everyone, the soul is a little known thing. Improperly done, an auric awakening can have...side effects." Her eyes slide to Pyrhha. _Hooboy_. "In any case, your answer is right in all the essentials, though most injuries should not last long enough to get infected even if your Aura is fully depleted. There are also first aid treatments that rely on your patient having aura, such as herbs that give a small boost to your aura, but naturally these have side effects. Since hunters travel light, I will be teaching you **HUNTER's** first aid, not **CIVILIAN** first aid. You can't afford to lug around a first aid kit, since it'll-"

 _ **Thud**_. I drop a first aid kit from my inventory on the table.

"Where...How did you..."

"Semblance."

"Augh, whatever, fine, MOST of you can't afford to lug around a first aid kit because it'll slow you down. Now put that away."

I smirk and comply.

"And you're still learning _MY_ first aid, young man!"

"Yes, Professor."

"I'll be teaching you how to identify the most basic medically useful plants in Vale, how to use them, and having you actually collect them this year. Remember, without at least some members of your team versed in first aid, you may well bleed out after killing a Grimm."

I snag my pen and take notes as detailed as I can make them as she begins the lecture proper. In a lull, I examine the factions thing, but when it turns out longer than expected I instead shift my attention back and forth from my notes to the tutorial.

[ **Factions** : Factions are typically groups of at least 20 people who share a common interest. When meeting someone, their Reputation is generally the sum of all factions they belong to, generally to a maximum of Friendly, and no minimum.  
Factions rep levels start at **Unknown** , increase to **Cooperative** , **Aligned** , **Allied** , **Loyal** , **Very Loyal** and **Fanatical** , and decrease to **Disliked** , **Shunned** , **Hostile** , **Hated** , and **Reviled**. Returning a reputation to neutral will instead be called **Forgotten**.  
Increasing a faction's reputation level may improve relations with specific members of that faction.  
Faction Reputations:  
White Fang: Hostile 0/5000  
Beacon Students:  
Academic:Unknown 200/1000]

I also gain two new skills-Herbalism and Improvised First Aid-and achieve level 5 in both. Apparently, Herbalism gives 2% chance of improved quality of harvested plants per level, and First Aid... By expending a set of Herbs appropriate to injury, I can heal 100+30 hp per level, times Herb quality level. Awesome!

* * *

"His aura did WHAT?" Ozpin looked mildly shocked.

"I just told you, it's capacity decreased by around twenty percent when he shifted from staff to the...bladed things?"

"Three section staff, alternately called a Sansetsukon. Not important. Anyway; Perhaps a staff has a certain meaning to this young man? Aura has been known to do some very extraordinary things, and we have yet to make an exact science of it. I will ask Glynda to keep an eye on him."

"Thank you for humoring an old man's concerns."

"No older than me, Peter."

He chuckles as Peter leaves. "How intriguing. Perhaps there is something more to this...annoyAHHHH"

"Did you just forget our date, uh, bar crawl? Why, I'm hurt, Professor!"

"No, no, NOOOO!"

"Oh, and I also invited Taiyang."

" **NOOOOOOOOO**!"

* * *

Current Stats:  
Level:12 Experience:7100/600(On Sleep:Level 20, 850/1000)  
HP:870(Recovers 1.88%/min)  
MP:1966(Recovers 3.78%/min)(+550 w/Cerberus)  
AP:1966(Recovers 3.78%/min)(+550 w/Cerberus)  
Strength:20(23.4)  
Constitution:20(13.4)  
Dexterity:10(11.2)  
Int:22(27.32)(38.32 w/Cerberus)  
Wis:23(27)  
Charisma:15

Unspent Points=40


	9. Chapter 9:Insert Witty Title

I prevailed on Wilikin's fashion sense again before heading up to the roof on the note I left Blake. Never mind that I was a half hour early. I activate my aura and sit, beginning to meditate. By the time Blake arrives, I have 5 in **Aura** and 21 **Meditation**.

"What's up?" She asks, sitting next to me as I cease meditating.

I hesitate. Last chance to call it off. "We're teammates, Blake. We can't keep our secrets forever. I'm not suggesting that we all share all our secrets. Certainly not now, at least. But the little ones?"

"Secrets? I'm afraid I don't-"

"Don't lie to members of your team, Blake. I know you're a Faunus. Your name is kind of a giveaway, and the everpresent bow doesn't help much."

[ **Social check failed**!]

"And what's it to you if I am?" She snaps, paling a bit as I read '-50 to reputation with Blake Belladonna'.

...Confidence, don't fail me now. I reach up and casually pull away her bow, ignoring her flinch and another -50.

"It means that you're *absolutely fucking adorable.*"

[ **Social Check** :Critical success!  
Through a action, you have unlocked the skill **Bait and Switch**.]

"Oh, well, you can go- Wait, WHAT?!" Her face goes from zero to beet red. "M-me, adorable? Don't be ridiculous!" She splutters indignantly. "And that can't possibly be all it means to you!"

"Really? It pretty much is. It means volumes more to me that you feel the need to hide it-Both about you and the state of the human race."

"But I-You-Your parents!"

...Dammit death.

"What?" I turn to look at her archly.

Death, you fuck, give me a hint.

[You've been living in a orphanage for the last 15 years. Nobody told you about your parents. They were bystanders, by the way.]

"They were KILLED in the Faunus Rights Revolution! How can you just... Just... Dismiss it like that?!"

Right, acting time.

"So what? I never knew them. I assume they would have been sweet and kind, but they died. I'll never forget them, but why would I blame someone who was two years old when they died? It's more the fault of humans, if I'm going to blame anyone."

I glance at the reputation thing. Holy shit, 150, then another 100, and just now 200 and an exemption from [ **SDC Rep** ] for Blake! Sweeeeet. Also, she was now 'Furiendly'. Ugh.

"I... You... That's... Surprisingly mature of you." She sits, snatching her bow and retying it.

"Heh, thanks... As for my secret. My semblance is not JUST hoarder." I fully deactivate my Aura and keep it all the way off. "Watch." I pull out the sword and thrust it through my hand, gasping in pain at the -100 hp as Blake gasps, blood running down the blade. But the instant I pull it out, the wound heals over without even the slightest trace. "No matter how I'm injured, that will happen. But there's a limit to how much of that I can do. It's why Whitley Schnee thought I would make it in Beacon, I think. I'm constantly aware of what state it's in, and I get the feeling that if the energy ever fully runs out all the injuries I've taken in the past will catch up with me. So... I need your help to train, so that won't ever happen to me."

"...Are you telling me everything?"

"Of course not! Just the parts that you'll actually believe rather than call a mental ward."

She grins. "Fair enough. Combat training or general?"

"More general stuff, strength, speed, endurance...I basically need someone who'll kick my ass if I try to stop." I grin sheepishly.

* * *

In retrospect, that was the absolute worst way to put it.

It's two hours after curfew when Blake saunters into the dorm, tossing me into my bed casually and curling up on my own. I'm at 17 Dexterity, 25 Constitution. Blake decided to ignore strength after a quick evaluation, but it reached 21 anyway.

Yang glances up and winks a little lewdly at Blake seeing the state I'm in, making her blush incredibly hard and shake her head furiously. She definitely wasn't thinking about that!

* * *

A incredibly muscled man without a shirt lifts his weapon(which appeared to be a gatling *rocket launcher*) into the air.

" **TIME TO PUNCH SOME BAD GUYS IN THE D*CK** "

There was a rough cheer of assent.

"According to this contract, if we kick these **MOTHERF*KING FANGS OUT OF THIS MINE, IT'S F*KING OURS**! After _legal fees_ and so on. **SO LET'S F*KING GO**!  97 percent of all living things on Remnant aren't exploding right now, **_and that's F*KING BULLSH*T_** "


	10. Chapter 10:The PubDungeon Crawl

After a hour of meditation, I **Instant Dungeon** out.

[Instant Dungeon has reached level 5!

 **Zombie dungeon unlocked!  
Bird dungeon unlocked!  
Wolf dungeon unlocked!]**

Sweet. I slip out of bed and head out of the academy before switching to **Wolf** Mode.

* * *

This was a horrible mistake. The wolves were in packs. I switch over to **Zombie**. Those fucks are actually slow, after all.

I pull out a quiver of Dustless arrows I obtained along with **Desert Sting** , taking aim at a cluster of zombies.

I shoot, and I miss. So, I fired again, and I missed. I missed again. And then I fired and I...

Son of a BITCH, death. What the fuck? Are you playing game grumps audio over my thoughts?

[ _Maaaaaaybe_.]

Fuck you.

I fired again. I hit, but not what I was aiming for, so I guess I- **SON OF A BITCH**.

[I swear it wasn't me that time!]

In any case, it was enough to learn level 1 **archery**.

[ **Archery** level 1 5% xp  
30% accuracy against stationary targets  
35% accuracy against approaching targets  
+5% damage  
+5% fire rate]

Huh. I keep firing. Fortunately, since arrows are quiet and zombies are dumb they seem to be ignorant of my location. I go through several quivers before dispatching the first group, but I approach and retrieve the arrows quickly.

The zombies appear to be dropping mostly normal loot remembering what I do from the comic. A **health potion**? I guess that's sorta nice. I swipe all the souls up along with the items and cash, before blinking. **'Zombie Soul'**?

Zombies had full souls?!

Wait, but each was only worth a hundred!

[Zombies are formed from the souls of those who have been dead for so long that nearly all the memories and power have leeched from their soul.]

Dark. In any case, I had a neat pile of loot to go through at convenience. Each arrow had lost a point of durability, I note. Hmm.

I move on to continue carefully killing zombies. After around 40, I return, **Archery** at level 5(50% accuracy on stationary foes &25% attack/speed.) I slip back onto the bed before leaving the dungeon, unaware that one of the girls was half aware. I curl up and start meditating. No reason to level yet, and if this was like dnd exp could be used as a resource.

* * *

Glynda groans as her scroll buzzes and rolls out of bed. She grabs it and slides it open.

"Hey bb you like what you see" was on the screen, along with a picture of a **certain piece ** of male anatomy.

"Ozpin—You have sent me pictures of your dick before. This is clearly not such a picture, but this **_IS_ ** your hand."

Wait...

"Headmaster! I cannot believe you would do this!"

 _Oh my god this was the professor group text._

 **Oh my god she just admitted he had drunk texted her pictures of his junk**. Enough that she was familiar with it.

Glynda did the only thing she could to preserve her dignity.

She _fainted_.

Her scroll buzzed away merrily into the night next to her.

* * *

A/N:

Apologies for the short chapter! Inspiration was in short supply for this chapter.


	11. Chapter 11:Combat Training

Chapter 11:Combat Training

I get out of bed as I hear the rest of the girls start to stir. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going." I say quickly as I scamper on out of the room. Hell hath no fury like four flustered girls who aren't used to sharing a room with a guy. Not that I have any experience with that. I just kind of assume it doesn't.

I bump into Nora and have a quick thought. "Hey, Nora, I could use a quiiiiiick hand with something. You see, to make a long story short, I have something I need you to taste, and the fate of Vale may or may not depend on a accurate description."

I summon a paper cup and pour a mere fortieth of a vial of Deathstalker venom into it. "And unfortunately, no, no matter how it tastes you cannot have more of it. On the other hand, I did secretly nab a thing of maple syrup, and you can have that aft-" she cuts me off by grabbing the cup out of my hand and tasting it.

"Mmm...Kinda sweet, kinda bitter. What is this stuff, anyway?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd be unable to use it in any situation where it might save Vale. I'd also probably never see the light of day again. So needless to say, don't tell anyone."

She blinks and shrugs. That's Valkyrie for you. I give her the maple syrup before heading to the cafeteria for food-again unnecessary, but appearances must be maintained. Lack of sleep can be excused somewhat; lack of food cannot. I start Observing people at random.

What the fuck? Jaune has 10000 Aura? He's only level 30, certainly doesn't have anything over 20 Intelligence, so run the math... 50 times 50... Dude has at least quadruple the Aura he should, if not more!

Or I'm thinking of him as a idiot as opposed to merely unwise. 10 may be my world's average, but hunters don't seem to do 'average'.

In any case, I'm clearly outclassed even by the suckiest guy in canon. Except, hang on... I examine his weapon.

[Croaca Mors

300% STR slashing damage

?]

Iiiiiiiiinteresting. Still, it was obviously weak for now.

I Observe Weiss to see if anything's changed.

[Observe level up! Titles visible.

Weiss Schnee

From Snow, A Lonely Flower]

Everything else was the same. I mentally open my options and see a new option, as suspected. I toggle it and can see the titles of everyone around me.

[Ruby Rose

The Cookie Monster

Yang Xiao Long

Hot Stuff

Blake Belladonna

The Night's Shade]

...One of these is not like the others.

Oh, shit, I have a title to equip!

[Plastic Board Breaker

+10% STR

+200% fully unarmed damage

*10 damage vs plastic with fists]

Okay, now you're just fucking with me. When am I ever going to need to punch plastic?

Regardless, I equip it for the 10% Strength.

After the breaking of our fast concludes, we're sent off to our first history class.

Once again, my team doesn't sit until I do, leaving me to pick the seat. With a sigh, I make sure to sit behind Cardin so if he does anything I can kick his ass.

History is admittedly fairly dull, and I burn the time blazing my aura as I take notes. After all, I had nothing better to do, and time is of the essence! I have no idea when Bad Stuff is going to start happening.

"...Why does he keep doing that?" I hear Ruby whisper to her sister.

"I think he's trying to train or something while taking notes."

"...He's very intense." Blake comments before Yang winks at her and gives her two finger-guns. "Oh, you KNOW that isn't what I meant, don't give me that!" She snaps irritably. "He lasted three hours!" The winking intensifies. "Of. Training."

"Izzat what we youngsters are calling it these days, Blake?" Yang asks teasingly. "Because I wouldn't mind a quick spar myself!"

I choke on a bit of saliva and go into a coughing fit, drawing Oobleck's attention.

"Ah, Grustlon, glad you've decided to join the conversation. What was the original name of the city now called Atlas?"

Uhhhhh

[Mantle]

"Mantle, Professer Oobleck."

[+25 rep Beacon Academic Students.]

"Very good."

He flits away in that zippy way he has. I level a semi-playful glare at Yang and the others. "I'm doing this all for a reason and would appreciate if you respect that. I didn't go to Signal, and I didn't have someone teach me one on one, I just fucking learned how to fight on my own." I state bluntly. "As I'm sure you'll see in combat class, most of the time I simply fight with sheer unthinking determination rather than actual skill, and I'm determined to correct that."

[+200 Reputation Weiss]

"Yeah, look at him, he's doing ok, even if Blake's kinda snappy."

"I was up until almost midnight. Of course I'm grumpy. Hart really must not need sleep." She shrugs. "But why are you so...unrelenting about it?"

"Because we're HUNTERS!" I snap. "You're used to the idea, I'm sure, but I'm not. Every time we step out of the safety of Vale's walls, all of our lives depend on us being able and willing to obey our leader, and the tactics and wisdom of said leader. Weiss has the second part to worry about, and the first is on all of us."

[+750 Reputation Professor Oobleck

+100 reputation Team RWBY

+150 Reputation Ozpin]

"A most astute observation, young man." He murmurs before continuing his high-speed lecture.

Afterwards, I'm stopped by Ren. "What did you give nora? She seems slightly less...Nora... than normal."

"...How did you...? Never mind. There is literally no chance you'd believe me, Ren. It should wear off by tomorrow for sure. What do you mean, though?"

"...Never mind." He turns and leaves.

[-50 reputation with Lie Ren]

Yeah, I figured.

After lunch(which to the dismay of the sisters is also spent training), I finally reach 6 aura. Whoo, +100% to physicals while active! The damage conversion rate had oddly decreased to 10 damage for 16 aura rather than the expected 15, but that's fine. I can work with it.

I head to combat class. There are a few fights, during which I manage to increase Simple Blunt to 11, Swords to 4, pick up a level of Spear and also another in Notetaking, before deciding to volunteer.

"And who would you like to challenge?"

"Jaune." I state firmly, using my improved Dexterity(and a Aura assist) to flip down to ground level. Jaune looks a little nervous at that display, stepping down as I shift Cerberus into my hand. Fortunately, I still gained the bonus to int while it was strapped to my back.

"And...Begin."

I launch a fierce offensive, finally learning Power Strike(oh yeah, that's a thing) and raining blows upon Jaune with the staff. Surprisingly, he blocks all but one hit, leaving my mana half drained as I flip back, again tapping Aura for a few seconds. He charges forward when I do, just in time to eat a boot to the face as I roll to my feet. He stays on his feet, unsteadily chopping at my torso as I block, slamming the butt of the spear into his foot. Despite his Aura, he yelps, hopping back, and I respond by kicking him as he does, knocking him down.

Then he sweeps my legs out from under me with his shield as he rises and slams his sword down into my shoulder.

[-320 Aura!]

Son of a bitch! 200 damage base?! I roll to my feet and Observe him. Bastard had only taken 2000 aura loss from the blows I'd landed! I growl and activate Primal Fury, this time managing to keep self control as I rained strike after strike on his guard, soon knocking the shield away. With several more strikes I knocked his aura into the yellow before Rage failed me... And he lashed out with the sword, knocking away my staff. There was a gasp as my aura appeared to change to full and I shift to bare hands, raining punches upon him with Aura active. It seems pitiful, except that damage buff from Board Breaker means that each punch deals around 500% str in damage, times Jaune's untrained aura means 300 aura per strike, soon knocking him into the red just before my own dips there from both strikes and use.

"Winner:Greyhart." I pant and go to retrieve the staff, ignoring the smiles I got. It wasn't good enough. Jaune was the weakest, or at least least powerful including gear, in canon. Surpassing him only meant that I wasn't entirely worthless.

I had to get better, and soon.


	12. Chapter 12: School's Out

The next day was apparently a weekend. I quickly learned the reason for my earlier dread when my eyes opened to be greeted by Weiss and Yang both waiting for me to _'wake'_.

"Uh... Hey?"

Ruby jokingly leaps inbetween me and them. "Hart! Run! I'll hold them off!"

"No, you **won't**." Yang smirked.

"No, I won't. Yang is scary when she goes shopping." Ruby agreed before going off to eat some of her cookie stash.

" **Traitor**! Wait, sho-Aaah!" I'm hauled out of bed unceremoniously and practically dragged out of Beacon.

"...So. Uh. What do you want to get?"

...Wait, what?

"...Okay, so yesterday we _kinda_ went into detail about things we shouldn't have talking about you and decided to take you shopping as a apology." Yang explains awkwardly.

"...So _THAT'S_ how Blake found out." I mutter, offering her a small glare before sighing. "Alright, how about Tukson's, then? I heard one of the second year students mention it the other day, said it has a wide selection of books, and there are a LOT of things I need to read up on."

"Oh, FINE, but you'd better not spend **ALL** your time reading them, at _**least** _ for the weekends, okay?" She grumbles and Weiss nods in agreement. Even her studiousness has it's limits.

"Does it count if I hang out with Ruby while experimenting with making new weapons?" I ask casually, and they make faces.

"...I guess." Weiss grumbles. " _Barely_."

I grin sheepishly and raise my hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll make sure to reserve a few hours for social interaction and stuff."

When we arrive, I run my fingers along the technical books casually, pulling out anything that promised to be a skillbook for closer examination. Soon I had a pile of around 10 books.

But that wasn't enough for me. I lean over the counter casually.

"Tell me... Do you have anything rarer? Or is everything out here?"

"There are a few books I'm afraid I just can't leave in the store for fear of thieves, and a few more which are almost priceless. What in particular are you looking for?"

I lean forward and whisper into his ear, " _ **True Magic**_."

He jumps as if stung. "Are you kidding me? Even if I happen to have any more than stories or play-spells, there hasn't been a human or Faunus capable of using that for _millennia_!"

I raise a hand. "A demonstration is in order. Set your scroll to monitor my aura." Once he does that, I trigger Glyph, creating a barrier between us to Weiss and Yang's shock. "No dust. _No_ _Semblance_."

 _" **Unbelievable**."_ He murmurs, looking up at me before running into the back.

I glance back at Weiss. "Don't give me that! Cerberus is made to channel energy into glyphs. I just gave it a slightly different energy to work with." She looks disgruntled as I punch the barrier, shattering it with a single blow.

"What kind of energy?"

"I'm not at liberty to say." I state, shaking my head. "Among other things, I don't think either of you trust me enough to believe me-and I don't know you well enough to know if you'd keep it secret." I pin them with a glare when I say 'secret' and they have the grace to flinch slightly.

Of course, I also lose 50 rep with Team -WBY(probably because they'll tell Blake about my reaction, though why Ruby won't lose reputation I don't know). I turn away as Tukson scrambles back in with a box of books.

"Here's everything I've ever considered might possibly be real, Wizard." My eyebrows raise at the title 'wizard' as Yang and Weiss suck in involuntary breaths.

[By demonstrating that you have magical power(and being male) you have unlocked the title [ **Wizard...?** ]! It is yet to be seen whether you are a wizard, The Wizard or a mere charlatan.

 **Wizard...?**  
+50% mp recovery rate  
+50% MP cap  
+50% magical damages  
+20% rate of learning magical skills]

"I assume my...Power will stay between us, Mr. Tukson, and you won't tell any of your... _Friends_?" I enquire innocently.

"Of-of course not! No additional charge for those, of course, Wizard."

"Allow me to return the favor." I reply smoothly. I conjure a piece of paper and a pen into hand and write out my scroll contact number before sliding it over to him. "If ever you and your...friends should... have a falling out, contact me and I'll see if I can ensure your safety."

I glance at my flabbergasted teammates as Tukson reverently accepts the note.

"Weiss, I believe you were funding this? Yang, do you know where we can get some decent Grub in the area?" I ask innocently, tossing in a pun on my old screenname for good measure.

[By being the smoothest fucking operator within a 500-yard radius and accidentally bluffing a shopkeeper into giving you thousands of lien worth of books, your _Charisma_ has increased to 20!]

* * *

"What-What the hell was that?! You're not a Schnee, so your semblance can't be Glyph, and you already have a damn Semblance anyway and you told me it was Hoarder! Who-No. **WHAT** are you? When you started talking to me on the flight over, you were plain looking. By the time we left you looked rather handsome. And now you look like a fucking living statue!"

"Yeah, because those abs are fucking _**CHISELED**_." I groan at the pun.

"I'm sorry, I'd tell you, but I can't justify giving an existential crisis on this scale to someone who might be real..."

" _ **MIGHT**_?!"

"So! Yang! Food!" I chuckle nervously. Jeez, where did my 20 charisma go when I needed it most?

* * *

We end up at some burger joint. I'm awkwardly eating, Weiss is glaring at me so hard I can almost feel my hair catching on fire, and Yang is making halfhearted attempts at breaking the ice, clearly shaken herself.

After a minute, I break. "Fine. I'll tell you. Text Blake and Ruby. We need to meet somewhere absolutely private. Yang, if you want to call Qrow, do that too. I'll leave that to you."

Yeah, I'd blown any chance of keeping it secret.

I always was kind of a fuck-up.


	13. Chapter 13:All Kinds of Fucked

Chapter 13:All Kinds of Fucked  
A/N:Huh, the secret's getting fully blown, including to Qrow, on a 13. How unlucky. This was genuinely unplanned.

I don't actually plan this, by the way. Everything is off the cuff. Everything that could be a plan is really just "it'd be cool if I could write x".

* * *

"What did he fucking MEAN I might not be real...?!" Weiss ranted as I walked away.

"Weiss, I don't think he meant you specifically. I've seen that look before. Those eyes, on a different person. And isn't it curious that those eyes would belong to my Uncle Qrow, who, by the way, has never spoken with Hart nor have I ever spoken about him in Hart's presence?" She pauses. "We need to see just how far this Deathstalker hole goes."

"In case you forgot, that story's about someone who got stung by a Deathstalker and went into a coma!" Weiss snapped.

"We still need to listen to him, Weiss. There's no need to be so hostile."

"...Fine."

"Oh, and if you don't mind, we should find some alcohol, or let Qrow buy some. That was the look Qrow has when he gets utterly wasted and is in a nihilistic mood."

"...Oh dear." Weiss murmurs as Yang rushes back to the dorm, following close behind.

-30 Minutes Later-

"So, lemme recap. You're telling me the guy on your team invited me by name when he shouldn't even know my name... And he either has some sort of evidence this world may not be real or is fuckin' insane. Oh, and while we're at it, Tux thinks he's The Wizard and has some sort of shady 'friends' that your friend somehow magically knew about and offered him protection from. Am I missing something?"

"Yeah, he also went from a 7 to a 9 after convincing Tuckson he was a wizard."

"Not A wizard, THE Wizard." Qrow carefully enunciates the capital letter.

"Did...Did I just hear you SAY a capital letter?"

"Shush." Yang bops Weiss on the shoulder. "That way lies madness."

"Well, since he obviously can't be luring us into a trap, I see no reason not to meet him. Did he give you a location?"

-One Hour Later-

"I can't believe you chose a spot so far from Vale!" Weiss bitched as the Bullhead landed.

"Yeah, what gives?" Chirped Ruby as she hopped down.

"This is a remote, safe location." I respond dully. "This is also where I took my first steps on Remnant."

"You... You mean in Vale, right?" Blake asks from where she leans against a tree.

"No. Remnant."

"You can't possibly be from outside Remnant."

"Let me reintroduce myself. I'll leave out my real name for reasons that will become apparent; Hi. I'm Grustlon Greyhart. I was born 19 years ago, and died half a week ago."

* * *

There is a moment where everyone's expresssions freeze. I can hear a howl in the distance, and a answering screech of some Nevermore. Ruby looks absolutely horrified; Yang is looking at me like there's something wrong with me. Blake's face is absolutely blank, cold, calculating whether or not I'm speaking even vaguely honest, and Weiss is simply haughtily disdainful. Meanwhile, Qrow's eyes widen slightly, then narrow. He speaks.

"If you're dead, how are you talking to us, not to mention walking around?" He asks warily.

"And the million dollar question. You see, there is a split here; one possibility is i'm not, and this is all a hallucination distracting me from the pain of a coma or something. The other is that my memory of how is accurate, and then there's another split."

Qrow nods. "What is this other split, then?"

"Well, you see, after I theoretically died, I met a certain...entity who I'd rather not name right now." I frown. "Regardless, I challenged them to a game for my soul, and this is supposed to be that 'game'. So, basically, either they created a universe, dumped me into a existing one, or, I suspect, created a simulated world that is itself...not real. So all in all, I'm going to say that there's a 50/50 chance that you're all real for now. That said, everything does seem to be internally consistent, which does reduce the odds of the hallucination one."

"Right. Firecracker, pass me a drink. Just one, don't worry." Yang rolls her eyes before tossing him a beer as he approaches. My eyes widen when I see the status effect Bad Luck Charm hit.

[ **Bad Luck Charm** Duration:Radiant Aura:Qrow

-9 Luck]

Lightning strikes from the clear sky all of a sudden, striking me just as I react to Bad Luck Charm by quickly adding 5 to my luck. Qrow leaps back in alarm, clearly blaming himself as I sink to a knee.

"I'm... alright. Don't worry, I was just...unusually unlucky before you approached. I fixed it."

"What do you mean, you FIXED it?!"

"I fixed it. You see...The being that I met gave me a certain power. A power that is, in fact, absolutely bullshit, and draws only a minimal aspect from the being that created it."

[Actually... I'm not the only one that made it.]

"Sorry, beings-What."

"Whaddya mean, what?"

"Oh, yeah, I also have a permanent line of communication with that being and my point is whaddya mean beings?!"

[...You see, in order to make it possible to grow WITHOUT absorbing souls, I **MAY** have had to bring Chaos into this.]

"What."

[Yeeeeeeeah. Because, just like I have multiple aspects, so does Chaos. And that includes Change.]

"Why hasn't he been talking, then?"

[Because I lied and told him that his channel was one way only.]

{WHAT? HOW DARE YOU! After all I've done for you.}

[Dammit he was listening. DAMMIT!]

{Let me tell you, I loved that one liner about the roleplaying!}

[He hasn't done that yet. Now shut up. Do you have any idea how crazy we're making him look?]

Qrow pokes me. "Kid. Kid are you alright? You're talking to yourself, you realize that?"

"No I'm not! Just because you can't see their messages doesn't mean... i'm not helping my case am I."

"No. No you are not. Anyway, continue."

"Ok, so, check it out. That power makes my life into more or less a RPG."

"A what."

"A RPG."

"Your life is a rocket propelled grenade?"

"What? NO!"

"I'm yanking your chain, kid. Anyway, what does that have to do with your luck?"

"I was getting to that. You see, one of my stats is luck. Your Semblance reduces it by 9; i assume 10 is the average. I had 5, so I allocated 5 stat points into luck to make sure I wouldn't be any more unlucky than anyone else near you. I reckon in low-risk environments-like, say, here-the impact of luck is lower, so i'm okay with being at 1 for now."

"...You are one weird kid."

"Didn't I already say I'm 19?!"

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, I doubt whatever being you speak of has the power to create a entire history of a universe."

"He doesn't have to. Only a planet."

"Fine, planet! Jeez. Anyway, am I right?"

"I would say , these beings are...not like humans. Or faunus, for that matter."

"Okay, let's try a different tack. Tell me about your world."

"Uh. It's called Earth. There are neither Grimm, Faunus, Aura, Dust or Semblances... There are six billion human beings..."

Qrow chokes, as does the rest of the team.

"Six BILLION?!"

"Yeah. Billion."

"Sounds peaceful."

"Oh GOD no. We don't need people to be as different as Faunus are from humans to create conflict. There's all sorts of bullshit wars for no reason. Wars over religion. Wars over skin color-and that's ignoring crime. We're currently in a mostly peaceful time, but that's because some genius made superweapons that could literally kill almost EVERYONE and if one gets launched all of them will."

"Holy shit."

"Yeeeeep. Say, can I have one of those drinks?"

I manage to catch the bottle the stunned Huntress tosses my way, open it, and gulp down half the beer, making a face at the taste. "Ugh. Wish you'd gone for Scotch or something. I can stomach THAT in the levels I'd need." I comment. "If I can even get drunk anymore..."

At this point, the Huntresses on my team look shaken, unable to detect any deception on my part.

"Dude, just tell us what entities gave you your power. It can't be THAT bad, right?"

"Depends. I'll just...give you a name for the worse of them. Baron Samedi. As for the other... Chaos. In his capacity as Change."

"Baron Samedi. Sounds ominous."

"Less so than his truename."

"I'll. Take your word for it. Why don't you ask them?"

"Good question. D-Samedi, Chaos?"

[Pff. Like you'll get a straight answer out of me after calling me THAT.]

"What did I do?"

{Yeah, this is totes real.}

[Dammit Chaos! You know how I hate being called the Baron, you couldn't have at least let him stew for a few minutes before telling him?]

{Nah, I like the kid too much!}

"Chaos says yeah, it's real. So unless I'm hallucinating, I guess we're clear."

"...Alright. Celebratory drink?"

Yang groans in dismay.


	14. Chapter 14:Afterthoughts

Chapter 14:Afterthoughts

"We still haven't established that I'm not hallucinating." I mention after my third drink. I note my 'Buzzed' status.  
"No; you haven't. Cogito ergo sum, bitch."  
Ah, touche. "So what you're saying is because you can think, clearly you believe that this is not a hallucination, but it would have been a concern if reality as you know it was a simulation because then your thoughts would themselves would be simulations?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
"Nah, Uncle was just thinking about his next beer!" Chirped Ruby.

"...Little snitch." Grumbles said 'uncle'.  
"I don't know latin for 'I think, therefore I am not nearly drunk enough.'" I snark lightly.  
Qrow roars with laughter as he downs another beer. Weiss looks on disapprovingly as she sips on a martini. Not even going to ask where she got that.  
"By the way, since we're doing this, Ruby, I happen to have your drink of choice on hand."  
"What?" She exclaims as Yang and Qrow both give me dubious looks.  
Instead of replying, I pull out a plastic bottle of milk and toss it to her. Yang breaks down in laughter.  
"Oh, god! He has YOUR number, miss 'I drink MILK'!" Qrow grins ruefully.  
I pull out one of the magic books, but instead of using it I read it. Hm, it's the one for earth.  
"Ho there, muscled Wizard. Might you cast us a spell?" I quirk my eyebrow at Yang.

"Ohohoh, why of course!" I grin before turning to face a tree and clenching my muscles.

"I CAST STONE FIST."

* * *

"C'mon, how was I supposed to know my new spell would throw up wood chips? Or collapse the tree?" All I get is a glare from Qrow. "Or that the chips would all happen to land in our drinks and the noise would lure a pack of hungry Beowolves?"

Glaaaaare.

"Y'know, this is really your fault if you think about it. I mean, how unlucky do you have to be...?"

GLARE.

I open my mouth to speak before Qrow interrupts me.

"Never. Test. A new spell. Unless you're either in a life or death situation...or controlled conditions."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!"

He checks his scroll.

"It's one o'clock. Time for a drink."

"Whatever you say, General Pixis." I snark as I nab one from Yang and toss it to him.

"...Please don't make cultural references we won't get..." Grumbles Weiss as Ruby pokes me.

"...Do you have any more milk? And maybe some cookies? Since you're all drinking without me..."

I casually summon a small packet of cookies and some milk, passing them to her. She cheers up immediately.

"Weiss, given that 'muscled wizard' bit I can safely say I have no idea what cultural references you WILL get." I point out just as casually.

"Oh, fine." She grumbles unhappily.

Meanwhile, Blake seems to be brooding against the tree she's leaning against. She barely even helped in the fight, too.

"Blake, is everything alright?"

"..."

"Alright, I need a minute to talk to her alone guys ok?"

The others give me a look and clear away after a minute.

"Blake, what's up?"

"...I thought I found one person who just didn't give a shit, and it was a good feeling. Especially since you had a REASON to be belligerent, and you didn't care about them. Then I found out that your whole 'story' was just...fake."

"To be fair, I didn't write it." I comment.

"Why doesn't your world have faunus?" She asks warily, shifting slightly.

"As far as I'm aware, they simply never existed. Of course, there are myths, stories...furries."

"What's a furry?"

"...Oooh boy."


	15. Chapter 15:Party in the BHA

A/N: Despite this being semi-insert, the implied explanation does not actually reflect my viewpoint. Rather, this reflects Hart intentionally being a dick because he's being put on the spot and resents having to explain this particular aspect of Earthly culture.

Given the potentially offensive nature of the speech, it has been excluded in favor of the reactions of all present. Not all of them heard everything discussed.

—Weiss's Mildly Buzzed Viewpoint—

Wait, so if faunus didn't exist, people would dress up as even more animalistic creatures by choice and do...that?!

 _I require additional martinis._

—Yang's Moderately Drunk Viewpoint—

' ** _Wild, debauched, animalistic sex_** '? Is Chiseled over there **propositioning ** her? Hehehehe, guess they really _weren't_ training~

—Ruby's Sober Viewpoint—

This is even more embarrassing and somewhat nauseating to listen to than when Yang asked Qrow about boys! I feel a little bile raise to my throat and lift the bottle of milk to take a drink just as I hear the words "... _Cowgirl milking_..."

Oh god, the milk went back up wrong! _**Nose! Nose! Nose!**_

—Qrow's Wasted POV—

I am not **_nearly_ ** drunk enough to have missed that the 'oh boy' was the same tone that Tai used when Yang asked me about boys. I stopped listening.

—Blake's Cornered POV—

Oh god, what have I done? My ears try to flatten against my head slowly as he speaks, and I try not to absorb the more...graphic of his imagery. I get the gis—Milk? Maybe it isn't _all_ ba **ohgodhedidn'tstoptalking**.

—Raven's Dubious Spying POV—

Oho, from another world, is he? This merits a closer eye. Power granted by two mysterious beings...one of which bears the title Chaos, and the other of which he refuses to use the true name of but rather calls Baron Samedi... Well, clearly it had some power as well, if it was worthy of the title Baron, no? Given that he thinks it would make them think worse of him than saying he was granted power by Chaos... probably even **more** than Chaos.

I retrieve a pen casually and begin taking notes on this Hart fellow while keeping a mental eye on them. Let's see, what are they talking about now.

...

Wild debauched sex? Sounds like my kind of night. What, you didn't think Yang was **intended** , did you? Nah. I was just several drinks too drunk and forgot protection or something. I'm still not a hundred percent sure what happened.

...

...

What the **fuck** is a cowgirl? Wait, no, that's _obvious_. Why would you **MILK** one. **_What_**?

Oh god, I've stumbled into one of _**those** _ conversations again. God this is worse than the time I decided to spy on my stupid brother while he was giving those two that damn lecture.

—Hart's Rant Conclusion POV—

"...Now, of course, what I just described to you is the stereotype of furries, and the more lewd side of the community as a whole. There are more wholesome things, like cat or rabbit ear hairbands, for instance."

"...Wait, what?" The shellshocked cat Faunus asked, ears twitching under her bow.

"Eeeeeyup. Of course, there are also...tails, some of which may or may not actually be sex toys."

She blushes even harder than she already was.

"...Wait, so you don't have ear headbands here? Huh. I guess the Fang wouldn't suspect their use..." I muse idly. "So, uh, did that clear up whatever problem you had with faunus not existing?"

"...Yeah. On the other hand, it also makes me worried that if I ever went to your world, I would be literally pounced on by perverts."

"You're probably right."

* * *

"Alright, so now you're done with that conversation, right? So... uh... Since you're trying to keep my nieces safe, is there anything in particular I can do to help you get stronger?" Qrow asks casually as he strolls back, accompanied by girls in various states of embarrassment and fluster. I quirk a eyebrow at them as I think.

"...Depends. When are you available?"

"Weekends and most evenings, buddy. Unless I'm already drunk or doing something for Oz. Why?"

"Well, since you're so much stronger than me, it's probably best if I limit the amount of time spent training alongside you so I don't lean on you too much, buuuuuuut there are some things I'm not gonna be able to fight alone, or at least, not going to trust my ability to fight alone, but I should have advance warning of and ability to plan when I fight those things. However, said things will also give me some REALLY good items and stuff, and probably more power to boot."

"Ahhhh. Shoot me a text and I'll let you know."

Qrow pauses briefly.

"Can you give any of your ability to learn to another?" He asks.

[No.] {Yes!}

"Conflicting answers. One second. What do you mean, no, De-Uh, D? And what do you mean, yes, Chaos?"

[No, they may not eat souls and advance in that way.] {But Death! Anyway, I'm more than happy to allow them access to everything but the leveling system as I have reign there.} [Buuuuut.] {Jeez, spoilsport! Alright, 1 person and 1 person per 20 levels you gain.}

"One person for now, another person the next time I sleep and then every 20 levels from there, and I'll still advance faster based on kills while they won't."

"Right. Firecracker, I want you to go with him on his combat training. Buddy, do the thing to share the training with Yang."

"What? Why her? I'm the leader!" Weiss protests.

I cut in. "Weiss, you don't really seem the type to want to spend your evenings beating the shit out of random animals and undead beings in another dimension. Yang... Well, you seem to me like at the very least you'd appreciate it when it wasn't monotonous."

Yang offers me a thumbs-up as Weiss lets out a sigh.

"Fine. But I'm next." She growls.

"So after the Yangbang, you want him to Schneep with you?"

Oh yeah, she's drunk.

Weiss goes from mildly irritated to beet-red in a second flat.

"Well... uh... Party invite Yang?"

"We're having a par-What's this blue box?" She cocks her head before punching the accept button.

"Hmmm, to train now, or to wait for sobriety..." I ponder out loud, then shrug and drop a arm around Yang's shoulders. "Meet ya guys back at the dorm!~"

Yang looks at me confused for a moment.

"Instant dungeon: WOLF!"


	16. Chapter 16:Marching Orders

Chapter 16:Marching Orders

I take a second to glance at my notifications.

A bunch of rep ones-Apparently, blowing this secret was a net gain, amazingly enough, although I had a odd +/- next to some of the changes.

[That means that they were utterly confused by something you did and will decide later if it's good, bad or meaningless. They're still people, dumbass.]

Ok, that makes sense, but... Why am I at 300/1000 reputation with Raven Branwen? Also, why are Yang and Qrow on my 'friends list' but not the rest of my team?

Regardless, I grab Cerberus and-

Wait.

I'm a fucking IDIOT.

I tap on my lapel, and my jacket, belt and shoes quickly unfold, clicking into place.

[ **SDC Duergar Plate**

Armor Value:15  
Encumbrance:20/STR  
Includes Dust-compatible weave.]

Yang whistles. "Damn! Could that always do that?" She checks Ember Cecilia.

"Eeeeeyup. And I feel so dumb for forgetting it. When we get back and you're sober, you'll be looking through menus, by the way."

"Hey! I'm sober!"

"Two words: 'Yangbang. Schneep.'"

She blushes lightly. "F-Fine, so I'm a little tipsy! Jeez."

I laugh, shaking my head.

And then the wolves arrived, my only warning being the 'ping' of Sense Danger. Since when did that ping happen, anyway?

I strike out with one end of Cerberus, activating Aura. As always, it's in staff mode, but nevertheless I hear a pitiful whine from the beast I smite as it dies. "Yang, guard my flank. Or, to use a term you're more familiar with, watch my ass!"

She snickers. "Yessir, protecting that premium posterior!" She blinks. "...Sorry, drunk." Nevertheless, I hear thumps, bangs and the whimpers of expiring wolves from behind me as I turn my full attention in front of me.

I unleash a Stone Fist at one of the wolves hanging back before smashing my staff into another. Apparently, the first was a crit as this one doesn't die, so I smack it again, firing off another Fist at the first one.

I glance at the skill quickly. Five times Int damage for 200 mp? Eeeeeeh. Still, it'd improve, and since Aura scaled off Int as well as MP it was still sort of worth working with. Assuming mana use would boost Int, anyway.

I unleash a third Fist at the first dying wolf, relishing in it's howl of demise as another actually gets a bite in. Ow! Shit! I punch it before gripping my staff and oh SHIT i have that title.

"Equip Title: **Wizard**!"

[Error:You do not have **Wizard** title!]

"Uh. Equip Title: **Wizard**...?"

[Title: **Wizard...?** Equipped!]

"Oh, fuck you."

Still, now my spells were massively more effective, and I was recovering more than twice as much mana per minute! Emboldened, I start unleashing Stone Fists left and right, hammering away at any wolves that would dare attempt to sully my skin with their filthy fangs.  
[Achievement unlocked: **Fistwolf**! You have defeated 5 wolves with fist-based attacks, and as a result all fist based attacks now deal double damage to wolves! Additionally, against non-wolves your fist based attacks may rarely invoke the spirit of the wolf, striking a second time.

Also, wolf faunus will be more pleasured with your fists ;)

And no, party members cannot get the same achievements you can.]

...Aaaaaand now I'm one shotting the wolves. Neat.

Also, really? A fisting joke?

Aaaaand now I'm out of mana. Uuuuugh. Still, I took 8 out with my mana. Also, pretty sure that pair of pings was me gaining a point of Int and a skill level. Which is awesome! A glance confirms that I now have 5.5x int on Stone Fist and 10 less mana to cast it. Neat!

Lucky me, I came prepared. I pull out one of the items I've been storing.

[ **Coffeepot**  
+500 Aura/Mana, -50 Health, causes Caffeine status  
Contains 12 Doses]

I drink it straight from the pot like a man, and am quickly reminded that I am not enough of a man for black coffee. Nevertheless, I gulp down two doses.

[Status Obtained: **Joe-Joe**  
+30% Int  
+40% Dex  
+20% movement rate  
-20% Charisma  
+10% relationship gains with Team CFVY & normal charisma when talking to them.]

I cackle before laying waste another five puny wolves and switching to Fangs.

This was going to be **fun**...~

* * *

Okay, so apparently without **Mild Adhd** , I went a little...Manic on caffeine. Huh. I'm not entirely sure what I did over the last hour, but I checked and my pants are still buttoned, as are Yang's so that's good. There also appears to be a rather sizeable pile of loot. Yang looks utterly worn out.

I move quickly, gathering loot and souls. And then I check my stats.

How? How did I achieve 30 int and 28 str? I also note that I have Stone Fist at level 5 and thus 163 mana cost and 700% damage. Hehe, sweet. I check my notifications and one pops out at me.

[For murdering over 100 enemies while in a single caffeine high, you have been awarded the Caffiend title!

 **Caffeind** : All positive caffeine effects double intensity; negatives halved. +25% rep gains with Team CFVY.]

Goddamn. I'd only had two cups and I could already see the immense value of this.

As I gather the loot, I note that each soul appears to be worth half that of a Beowolf. Except Alpha Wolves, who are worth two, and comprise around a tenth of the corpses.

In total, I scrounge up a cool two thousand lien, way too many wolf teeth to count, a skillbook, 76 pelts of varying quality, and 10 wolf skulls. Nnnnnnnnneat. Oh, there are also twenty **Wolfbone Javelins** which I nab. Could be handy.

I casually tuck a thousand lien into Yang's pocket before boosting her onto my shoulder as she groans in exhaustion.

" **Instant Dungeon:Empty**." I command and the world shimmers around us. "Yang, while I walk, I want you to meditate, but no slee-Nevermind." I cut myself off as she snores in my grip. I shake my head before switching Cerby to **Claw**.

She rode a motorcycle, right? Let's see how she feels about that kind of speed WITHOUT a motorcycle on the ground under her! I make sure to undo my armor, and now heeeeeeeere goes!~

* * *

"Do that again and I will fucking **kill** you." Growls a mildly hungover, scared shitless, red-eyed Huntress, who has currently pinned me to a wall in front of the rest of my team.

"Okay, okay, jeez. I just thought that maybe you might actually want to reach Beacon in a reasonable amount of time..." I grumble as Blake and Weiss pry her hands away. "Check your pockets, make sure you didn't drop anything."

Her jaw drops when she finds the 1000 lien card in her pocket.

"All is forgiven?"

"...Mostly." She grumbles, eyes returning to normal.

"Soooooo... How did it go?" Weiss asks sweetly, actually smiling at me.

"Okay, **stop _that_**."

"...Stop what?"

"That! That thing you're doing where you're acting genuinely happy to see me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Seriously, stop it. You're wigging me out over here."

Yang and Ruby giggle.

"Anyway, I've gained 42000 more experience...Wait, WHAT?! Holy shit, we killed 200 of those things."

"No, actually. You killed 200. I killed 50."

"Huh. Guess some of the souls must have faded with time." I mumble.

"Wha- _Souls_?" She cocks a eyebrow.

"Er, it's just a game representation! Like, you know, some games represent experience with glowing orbs you collect and stuff?"

Yang hmms suspiciously, and Blake's eyes narrow.

"So, uhhhh... Is there a leatherworker around somewhere? I have a LOT of wolf pelts right now that I don't think I'll be using." I quickly shift the topic.

-Later-

As it turns out, there was. I quickly strike up a deal-I give them the pelts, and in exchange I get 50 lien, the best 5 hides, and they make me a new pouch. Leather had to be better than cotton, right?

I was told to come back in a few days, so I went to see if I could do anything with the rest of the stuff.

First things first, I Observe the skillbook.

[ **Way of the Wolf**

Grants the skill [ **Wolf's Fang** ]

[ **Wolf's Fang** ]-Toggled (Effects Shown at Level One)

-50% reputation with **Racist Humans** while active  
+100% damage to bite attacks  
+20% Wis  
+10% Str  
+10% Dex  
+20% damage to prey animals and prey-typed Grimm  
+10% damage to prey Faunus]

Well, the bonuses would be nice even if I don't plan to bite people. Quite honestly, if not for Weiss, I wouldn't even care all that much about the 'racist humans' modifier if it was permanent. As a toggle, though?

I immediately use the skillbook. That done, I go buy a drill, some red dye and a bunch of strings. It costs a lot more than it should, in my opinion-300 for the lot-but it'll be worth it.

Time to craft the most stereotypical item ever-wolf-fang jewelry. I dye each fang red so it can't be interpreted as something about the White Fang before drilling a tiny hole through it carefully.

As I work, I get several pings-I've learned Bonecrafting and Jeweling and Fetishism leveled up.

Wait, hang on... Do these stack?

Hehe.

In any case, I prepare each tooth with extreme care until I have a hundred and then begin stringing them. I examine the first one I made, heart singing with pride.

[ **Wolf-Fanged Necklace, Red**. Quality:Normal Durability:10/10  
+10% Str  
+5% Dex  
+5% Wis]

Yessssss. I put it on before crafting a pair of bracelets.

[ **Fang Bracelet, Red** , Quality:Normal Durability 7/7  
+5% str  
+3% dex/wis]

I can already feel the added strength and dexterity, each motion just a hair more effortless.

I spend a good hour and a half crafting, some of which is being distracted by a call from Yang. Apparently, she needed a hand understanding some of the game. Specifically, what to train for now.

"Have you ever meditated, Yang?"

"Well... No."

"Start. It'll improve your Aura, Dust capabilities and your recuperation of Aura and Health. In fact, tell the other girls to, as well." I instruct. "Maybe find someone who does guided meditation."

"Alright. This had better be worth it." She grumbles.

"See ya in a while."

One of the necklaces I made seems to pulse with a red light, and each fang appears to have magically transformed into a glimmering red gem. Intrigued, I Observe it.

[ **Talisman of the Rouge**. Quality:Sublime Durability 100/100  
+10% Str  
+5%Wis  
+20% Dex  
+10% effectiveness to all Red items, including this but excluding this effect. You rules lawyer, you.]

Ohohohoho! _Dungeons of Sunnydale_! Yes! This is obviously for Ruby.

A item like this deserves a proper presentation. And I can't skimp on the others. I purchase four boxes in appropriate colors before packing the accessories inside them. Sure, it runs a extra 50 lien, but hey, I have cash to burn.

I come back to a bit of a spectacle. Yang is going 'OUUUUUUUUUM' while Blake's bow is twitching while she's actually trying to meditate. Weiss isn't even trying to meditate, instead studying and Ruby... Is busy being adorable. Or just lazy. Wait, since when were those exclusive.

In any case, I hold out the boxes after getting everyone's attention. "Before I give these to you, you guys should know these are all practical. Yang, new trick. Look at something and say observe. Here, try it." I toss her the yellow present. "Read it out loud for each."

She does so, eyes widening when she realizes that in total this increases her strength by 20%...but mostly ignoring the other stats. I shrug and pass the others their boxes, leaving Ruby until last. Ruby looks mildly disappointed until she actually opens hers and sees the gorgeous red glow of the Rouge's Talisman. And then she launches at me.

I have half a second to flip out before I'm pinned to the ground and mau-Oh. She's hugging me. Tightly. I wheeze for my life, putting up a bit of a struggle until she lets go, sitting up and giggling happily.

It was at that moment that I looked her in the eye, and the last seeds of my doubt that this was all real faded. I reach out and pull her back down, letting her cloak hide my tears.

Remnant was real, and I'd been dumb enough to treat it like a game. And... I was dead.

I ignore the relationship notifications. After a few minutes I let go. If anyone notices the damp spot on Ruby's cloak, or my redder eyes, they don't say anything.

"I...I need to go train." I scramble to my feet and rush out the door.

* * *

"Sir, one of your students appears to be delivering repeated blunt trauma to one of your foliage surveillance units." Reports a holographic assistant.

"What? Again? And didn't I tell you to call them bugged trees? Well, put it on."

"Yessir."

"He would appear to be banging his head against it, not 'delivering blunt trauma.'"

"His head is apparently quite hard, sir." Quipped the assistant.

"...Indeed." Ozpin pauses, hand going to his head. "Tell Glynda to get me a asprin."

"She says 'go fuck yourself', Sir."

"...Noted."

-Meanwhile-

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Dumbass! Argggggh!" I punctuate each word by banging my head against the tree one more time until my aura's fully drained. I pant as I drop to a knee. "So...Stupid."

"I, uh, don't suppose you could find your own tree to feel sorry for yourself near?" I hear from behind me. I glance behind me.

Oh, god, him.

"I mean, if we both take our problems out on the same tree, we might end up killing it." He laughs nervously. Is he trying to imitate my snarky sense of humor? At least what bit of it he's been exposed to?

{ **I like him**!}

[ **You** like **everyone** chaos!]

{Oh, now that's not true...}

"I never caught your name, MSM." I quip. "I'm Hart."

"Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." Is that... Sarcasm?

{I think I'm in love.}

[Shut it!]

"I'm Greyhart." I offer my hand. "Shall we start over?"

[+500 Reputation Jaune Arc!]

-chapter end-

A/N:

Rest In Peace MSPA Forums, you will be mourned.

Dungeons of Sunnydale is still around, though! Rouge is a intentional spelling thing from that story. I highly recommend it!


	17. Chapter 17:Tested Metal

Chapter 17: Tested Metal  
A/N  
Someone asked a very interesting question in reviews, specifically, the genders of Death and Chaos. Given that both are beings aspected by the cultures of various worlds... They are literally every gender you can imagine at various points in time. Unless a race simply lacks the concept of one of them having a identity or nigh-universally ascribes a single gender identity to them, they share every gender with that race.

However, since it's generally agreed by humans that both death and chaos are male, unless stated otherwise(such as by a female or non-binary identity being applied) whenever Hart is actually face to face with one they will be male.

* * *

We talk for a bit after that, each sort of dancing around talking about our issues awkwardly. After a bit, I grin ruefully.

"Since I apparently shouldn't take out my issues on this tree, I think I'll go pick up some metals and do some amateur forge work." I chuckle. I offer him a hand.

* * *

As it turns out, Beacon doesn't have anyone who teaches forgework, but Signal does and given that I have a man on the inside... And some cash burning a hole in my pocket.

While I am marginally calmer, the poor man has to correct the intensity of my hammering ten times. Still, he doesn't seem that upset, probably because I'm paying him two hundred lien for a hour of work. The metal I'm hiding in my inventory was another two hundred lien, but hey, if I run low I can just kill some more wolves. I'm good at that.

The metal throws up sparks at yet another heavy strike. "Let's see what you've made so far." He says.

He hmmms thoughtfully after the blade is dunked in a barrel of oil and passed for examination. All I've made at this point is a knife, but nevertheless I hold my breath.

"Passable. Needs to be sharpened, of course, not to mention handled and then tested. But for now, given that this is all the time you paid me for... I'm ready to call this a knife."

The smithing professor grins. "Not that a knife will do all that much 'gainst Grimm. Still, when you're done, this blade...will cut. Or stab, depending on how you make it."

[By having a expert appraise your work and find it tolerable, you have obtained the title Amateur Blacksmith!

By completing the brute work on a weapon, you have obtained the skill Blacksmithing! Through experience and instruction, this skill has reached level 4.

Blacksmithing level 4  
+16% quality of forged metal weapons or armor, +4% improvement per 15 minutes spent maintaining a metallic weapon or armor, capping at 2.5 hours of work. Each second strike dealt or received without Aura reinforcement will cancel 15 minutes of work.  
-4% Time required to craft metal items  
+2 Str  
+2 Con  
+2% Fire Resistance  
+.2% chance of a Mood when already crafting.]

Huh, apparently Blacksmithing boosts my stats a fair amount. ...I don't like that 'Mood' thing. Reminds me of Dwarf Fortress LPs...

[Psh, don't worry, you won't kill people for ingredients.]

Well, that's a relief.

As the professor leaves, I begin sharpening the knife, humming softly.

Wait, strikes without aura...

Oh my god, no wonder Jaune's sword sucks so much! The poor bastard didn't have aura before canon! He'd been wearing it down!

Still, my skill isn't enough to do it justice, so I leave that alone, finishing the knife before beginning to work on a second.

If I was going to make a knife, I was going to make a pretty one. Frankly, everyone but Yang could use one. There were places you just couldn't take a scythe/rifle, rapier, or... Whatever the fuck you call Gambol Shroud.

On the other hand, Yang would still have her fists.

I make another two knives (reaching level 7 smithing) before suddenly blacking out...

* * *

What just happened?

[Mood item complete!

Items used:Giant Nevermore feather x1  
Primesteel Ingot x5  
Wolf Fang x40  
Leather Wallet x1]

Oh yeah, I never went through my Zombie loot. I keep reading.

[Wind Dust, Crystallized x4  
Soul:Beowolf x5  
Soul:Giant Nevermore x1]

What the fuck?! I could craft with Souls? How? Since when?!

[Only when making items of a certain quality, scrub. Also, you lacked the skill.

Items Created:Katars of the Kestrel's Cry  
Skills obtained/Leveled  
Enchanting(Level 5)  
Bonecrafting(Achieved level 7)  
Blacksmithing(Achieved level 10)]

Ok, that weapon name is uncomfortably close to acronymming to KKK. Dammit Death.

Ah, well, at least he didn't do it.

I pull out the weapons and Observe them.

Are... Are the handles made of the wolf teeth and then covered in leather from the wallet? Holy fuck, that's metal. And impressive. How are they staying together?

[Katars of the Kestrel's Cry Quality:Remarkable Durability:125/125&125/125  
Grants the skill [Screech]  
+20% Dex  
+20% Wis

Melee Attack: 750% Str slashing damage + 750% Dex wind damage. -40% attack delay.  
Ranged Attack: 'Wing Buffet':Channels 50 MP into 100% Int/Wis Wind damage. High knock-back for damage dealt, rapid projectile, invisible to the naked eye. Fire Rate:Rapid.

Not Dust-Compatible.

Screech level 1  
Costs 250 Ap or Mp

Aggros any and all creatures within 50 meters that are unaligned* or hostile. Range higher for those with sharper hearing.  
Scaling -20% Int/Wis/Dex to all aggroed creatures-The closer they are, the worse the debuff. A creature with sharper hearing may receive more of a debuff than stated percentage. A creature who is intentionally shielding their ears weakens or ignores this debuff.  
Scaling -10% Int/Wis/Dex to non-aggro'd creatures within range such that they could be aggroed, same stipulations.  
Duration:60 seconds.  
*Unaligned does not include creatures that would flee from hostile actions such as female deer or rabbits.]

Holy hell. These were AWESOME. I go to maintain them but my scroll buzzes.

...  
I have thirty messages?!

The first few seem to be from before I started on the Katars. I probably just didn't hear it because of the hammering.

* * *

Yang:

Hart, where are you? Is something wrong? We didn't say something, did we?

Ruby:  
Uhh, I wanted to wait to tell you this in person but...you've been gone for a while. Thank you so much for the necklace! Seriously, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I'm almost afraid to wear it, but Yang pointed out that that's why you made it and that it'll help with things.

Ruby:  
OH MY GOSH YANG JUST TOLD ME IT MAKES CRESCENT ROSE EVEN STRONGER THANKYOUTHANKYOUSOMUCH

Ruby:  
Whoops, scroll spacebar glitched.

* * *

My lips quirk at the reminder of how annoying my phone was.

* * *

Blake:

I think I know how you're feeling, Hart. You can't afford to dwell on your mistakes. So get up, brush yourself off, and do your best never to repeat them.

* * *

I skip a few messages before coming to one from Qrow.

* * *

Qrow:

Your whole team's worried about you, kid. Told Firecracker you're alright. I can't even imagine how traumatic it is to experience death.

Remember, kid-Most people only die once. I don't care how your first life ended. Make. This. One. Count.

* * *

My blood roars at that last line. I send a casual message to Yang that all is well, casually noting that it's six am. Jeez, I must have worked on those katars for hours each!

I glance at the message that popped up.

[Through intense emotion, you have learned the skill Willpower!  
Error:Wisdom too low for Willpower, will function at reduced strength and gain experience more slowly.

Willpower level 1 Active+sustain cost 50 aura/minute  
Active:Restores 20% aura  
Sustained:  
+20% aura  
+20% aura recovery  
-10% damage received to Aura.  
Min Wisdom:50  
Active use cools down 1 minute after sustain ends. ]

Hrmph. Noted. I jump into the Wolf dungeon and switch to Cerberus, casually blasting my way through them with Fists. When I run low on mana, I switch to a Empty dungeon after gathering loot and cutting a few up with Katars. Nothing special this time, but I did gather a few thousand more experience and three hundred lien.

In fact, no, strike that. Why go Empty when I can work in a Zombie dungeon? I do that, using the Katars to efficiently butcher every zombie I come across almost instantly. It's tedious, to be sure, but by the time I reach Beacon, I've gathered another 20k experience, a lot of random junk, 200 Zombie Souls and 750 li-

The fuck was that pin-

A foot strikes me in the face. Startled, I Observe on reflex.

[Zombie Huntsman.]

Nnnnnnnnnope. I Escape the dungeon immediately, shuddering a little.

Right, let's not hunt Zombies near Beacon or Signal. Don't want to chance THAT rare spawn.

I head up to the SXBRG dorm, not noticing the calculating eyes behind me. I take a second to check my Relationship with Ruby.

[Rose's Briar], huh? What, is this May Day and May Wine? I'm certainly not going home, though. I guess I am kinda thorny.

"Where did you go last night?!" Is my greeting from Yang.

"Signal. Figured I could get taught blacksmithing. I learned some and made some knives and calmed down."

"Knives? You're kidding. Hart, what are you going to do with knives?!" Weiss snaps at me.

"Well, it occurs to me that I know four very beautiful ladies who may not be able to take their weapons to more...classy events." I say smoothly, accidentally picking up a level of Flirting. "And while one is...probably better with her fists than she'd be with a knife... You can't tell me that, say, Ruby's going to do anything without her Scyther Rifle."

Weiss blinks, blushing slightly(as do Ruby and Blake) at the 'very beautiful') part. "And your results?"

"Are unfortunately far too crude to grace any of your hands." I reply. "However-And I fully blame Chaos and Samedi for this one-I slipped and created these."

I equip the Katars. The Huntresses suck in a breath before Blake speaks.

"And...You 'slipped' and created these?"

"Moooooore like 'slipped into a trance' but yeah." I respond.

Weiss looks intently. "Are those embedded Wind crystals? What the heck, you dolt! This won't last more than a few uses!"

"Weiss. Magic."

"...Then why the crystals?!"

"I dunno, help focus the magic or something? I made literally no design choices on this. What I do know is that I can release weak, fast, invisible rapid fire projectiles from this."

"But...Wind Dust creates a green radiance."

"And this doesn't."

"But...No dust can create invisible effects."

"And this...Can."

I really didn't get why this was that big a deal, but Weiss and Ruby literally dragged me to a training area after that. Shrugging, I channeled my mana through both at once.

Apparently, 'rapid fire' meant 360 shots per minute each, which meant that it took 36000 mana to fire both for a full minute. The first few shots simply plunk harmlessly against the training dummy, pushing it back...but the next few absolutely shred it.

"I think your aim was off with those first few." Ruby says as the pair stare at the devastated training dummy.

"Um... What about the training dummy?"

"Those get destroyed all the time. Usually with a single hit. But a invisible, silent attack? If you can rebuild that with Dust, then we could win Vytal Tournament! Or at least make a good showing."

...I had a bad feeling when she mentioned that. Distant memories of things I've read...

"I don't think I can. At least, not something you could use without Magic." I state firmly.

Then my mind turns to a webcomic as Weiss opens her mouth.

"But, given time, I think I can give you Magic..."

She quirks a eyebrow at me.

"Just... Gimme a few months and I'll see if I can cook up some sort of...rechargeable magic crystals or something you could load like Dust."

She sighs. "Fine."

Hopefully, people on Remnant weren't like the guys in Twokinds that actually were hurt by using magic. Like, they literally went insane.

{Pff, we aren't that cruel. Just keep them to Party members and we'll keep their minds healthy. Gamer's Mind, remember?}

Oh? I thought that was only for me.

{Hell no. Wouldn't want someone reading their minds and learning of the Game.}

Mm. Well, that's good.

"Can I go crash now? I'm starting to feel nostalgic about sleep, and I THINK I'll have enough levels for two more of you to join the party. Speaking of which, when I wake up, we are playing poker to level Luck. This is mandatory because this is a advantage nobody else has."

Weiss sighs.

"Yeah, sure. Will we be playing for something?"

"Yeah, because I think it might enhance the training. I'll bring the entire pot unless you care to chip in, though."

"Three hundred lien each." Weiss says. "I can't imagine that six hundred wouldn't be enough to serve our purposes."

"Agreed. Off to sleep, then." I salute snappily before heading off.

I pause on the way in, spotting something on the wall by Blake's bed.

"Blake, what's that...?"

"What, haven't you ever seen a pinup before?" She snaps, blushing.

"...Is that... Qrow and Headmaster Ozpin?"


	18. Chapter 18:A Whole New Level

Author's Note:Sorry about the delay! I finally got one of those damn Alphasmarts...and only AFTER I wrote 2 nice, long chapters of this, did I realize I didn't have a printer cable to upload with! Expect another chapter tomorrow :D

* * *

Naturally, I slept after that. Trying to not think about the pinup of Ozpin and Qrow kissing each other. Oddly, Qrow seemed to have longer, luxurious hair in the poster…..

When I woke up, I glanced at my level and grinned. I was already over level 60!

[Goddamn, kid. You've been grinding too much.] Comes the comment from Death.

So what? If this is a RPG, let there be grinding! Besides, now I have a whopping 2000-ish extra Health, Mana and Aura! Even if I'm not going to use that 200-ish skill points, at the very least those will enhance my survivability and recovery rates.

Besides, now I can fit my whole team in my party! Hah!

Who cares if it was now past four in the afternoon? I quickly ping everyone with invites, minus Yang. After all, she was already in the party.

I accompany it with a text.

(Let the Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-roulette-hypercube strip poker be-)

No, no, they wouldn't get the reference.

(Come on back to the dorm. It's time for the Game. ;) )

I casually send to all of my team before beginning to cut four decks of cards clumsily.

[By clumsily fumbling with cards like some sort of monkey, you have obtained the skill Stage Magic!

Stage Magic level 1 1% experience

+1% skill with cards, coins, spheres, etc when performing feats of manual dexterity

+1% Dexterity]

Huh. Neat. Still, I couldn't help but notice that it paled in comparison to active Aura.

…

 _Why_ didn't I have that on? I quickly toggle it on for training.

Blake is the first to arrive.

"You know, you really need to work on how you walk if you want to keep that little secret of yours." I say casually.

"What?" She asks archly.

"At least when you're irritated, you don't walk, you sashay." I say casually. "Perhaps it would pass unnoticed by most who…aren't attracted to the female gender, but it's rather pronounced to anyone who would be checking you out."

Her cheeks turn bright red at that comment. "H-how _dare_ you?!" She tries to act outraged.

"Oh, come now, I'm sure you've been giving me a few looks too, Miss ' **Pinup** '."

She blushes harder. "S-so what? You cheated to get that body anyway!"

"You know, while that's true, I always was a fan of cheat codes." I smirk as she looks away, fuming as Ruby and Yang arrive.

….

Okay, where the _**FUCK**_ is all this courage around girls coming from…?

[Wisdom and Charisma, buddy. Willpower and confidence.]

….Ah.

 _Fuck_ you, Death.

[Fuck you, too, Dead.]

That established, I resume cutting the cards thoroughly. After a few minutes, I get rewarded with the *ping* of Stage Magic reaching level 2.

…

What even was the point of all these useless skills! I guess Note-Taking was alright, but really, Stage Magic?

[Don't knock it, buddy. You wouldn't know what you can do when your Stage Magic skill reaches max levels.]

Harrumph.

Weiss soon arrived.

"You have the ante, Leader?" I ask casually.

"Yeah." She plunks down a stack of cards, and I do likewise.

"Alright, girls. We'll be needing chips. Let me just…."

I produce 1.20 in nickels and pennies, and plunk it in front of me, doing the same for everyone else.

"Where are you getting these….chips… anyway?" Asks Weiss.

"Magic. Alright, so listen up. If one of you wins the whole pot, I'll try to make you a special magic item next weekend. That's right, six hundred lien and another piece of sweet loot."

"Uh…. You do realize the strength and dexterity stacked _additively_ with Aura, right?" Yang asks.

"…..Oh. I'll have to keep that in mind when making items in the future." I grumble. "But it's still HELPFUL, and the Wisdom lets you recover faster, ya know!"

Ruby glares at Yang, hand going to her necklace a little protectively. "And this talisman was really neat! " She chips in with a huff. "I measured Crescent Rose's muzzle velocity and everything!"

"Aaaaanyay, that oughta be enough stakes to raise our luck quite a bit with each round." I state before dealing the cards out, humming softly as I do so.

"Why so many cards?"

"So luck plays a greater role." I respond. "With one deck, well, you can only have one person with a card of a certain suit and value."

Weiss hums in thought. "I'm not a hundred percent sure that makes sense, but….alright."

And then it was on.

We battled wits and bluffed for the next two hours. As it turns out, high Charisma was a blessing and a curse. When I paid active attention, I could bluff quite nicely, but it made me more expressive when I was not.

Rubes….. Just sucked at Poker. There were no words to describe just how badly she sucked at poker. Her face could be read like a book.

Yang and Blake seemed to be conspiring, on the other hand, signaling quietly to each other with their eyes. Try as I might, I couldn't intercept their code, and neither could Weiss.

The heiress, while frugal with her chips, was no match for the seemingly combined wit of the other two Huntresses, and was next out after Ruby. At that point, I gave up.

"HOW ARE YOU TWO COMMUNICATING?"

"We're not." Replied Yang. "We're just making faces at each other to stop you from focusing."

…

…

"What." Weiss said with a iciness that practically radiated from her.

I sigh and focus in on the game. At this point, I have 17 luck, but I'm sure they have more.

"What happens when I'm out? Will you turn on each other?"

"Nah, split pot."

"I suppose I could make one item for you two to….share~" I wink lewdly at Yang, who blushes lightly. "During 'training' I mean."

"You….You heard that?" Came from Blake.

"I heard ALL of that."

Now they're too busy blushing to focus on the game! I press the offensive with one last glance at my hand, raising to just over half my total. I have 175 chips, Yang has 200 and Blake has 225.

Their flustered state leaves me at a distinct advantage as the round closes with me raking in the chips with a full house. I fold the next hand, of course, but the one after that is more to my liking and I play it through, managing to get them both to go all in.

"Royal Flush!" I call out with a triumphant grin.

"Oh, bullshit! What are the odds of tha—" Blake subsides as soon as she says 'odds', trailing off as we all just….look at her.

"….Right." She says meekly. "Sorry, I forgot about the whole…reality bending luck thing…" She huffs.

"Heh, that's fair." I respond as I pull in the chips. "Sorry, looks like I'm not making anything unless I feel like it~" I tease.

"So….What's your real Semblance, anyway?" Chirps Ruby.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….." I pause. "I don't have one?"

"Bullshit." Blake says. "The only way to have no semblance would be to have no personality."

"What, like that dweeb who's leader of JNPR?" Asks Weiss.

I just…look at her. "That's just uncalled for." I say, miming wiping away a tear.

"Pssh, yeah, and? Haven't seen him using a semblance, have we?"

"If you have to use a semblance to have a personality, I guess that rules out miss Invincible Warrior, huh?" I casually ask.

"Uhhhhhh…." Weiss blushes before pointing at a corner of the room. "Look! A demonic duck!"

I look and see a sign that says 'Outside of service area'.

…..

"Neat, Weiss has the ability to conjure signs! I didn't know Glyph could do that." I casually say before noticing that Weiss 'mysteriously' disappeared. And hearing several mysterious branch-breaking noises, and feeling a breeze from a window.

"Did I just make Weiss bail out a window?" I casually ask, and Blake just nods dumbly. "Huh. Neat." I pause for a second. "Well, I was planning to show Weiss this, too, but everyone grab on."

They hesitate before doing so, and I grin slightly sadistically.

" **HEY KIDS WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY**?"

"Wha-"

"Kid?!"

" **HAR** -"

" _ **INSTANT DUNGEON: ZOMBIE**_!"

* * *

"Okay, that's a _**lot** _ of dead bodies." Comments Blake.

Ruby is keening slightly and clinging to my arm.

"Hart, we aren't kids." Growls Yang. "Also, what the hell?"

"It's a reference, Yang. As for you, Blake, more like Undead bodies, and Ruby… You literally rode a FUCKING ROC THAT SHOOTS FEATHERS LIKE FUCKING DARTS, WHAT THE FUCK."

Ruby scowls up at me. "But….these things look icky and smell bad. And are also scary."

…

"Ok, that scowl's adorable. Anyway, if it's that bad, snipe. But there are four of us now, so when a Zombie Hunts—"

I'm cut off by a sword slice to the head, which Aura intercepts most of.

"Oh GOD damn it." I growl, retrieving my Katars and sending the Huntsman back with a series of rapid fire wind blasts, pinning him to the wall. "Blake, if you would?"

She nods and quickly dispatches it with a few hacks to the neck, decapitating it.

Oddly enough, the sword actually falls to the ground and remains. I Observe it.

[ **Knight-Night** Durability 500/1500

Sword Mode:Inflicts 1750% Str damage

Capsule Launcher Mode:Fires liquid capsules that burst on impact, delivering 10% Dex damage and contact-based poisons. Jammed under 1000 durability]

Hold the fucking phone. What?

[Psh, it's not going to deliver a full dose of Deathstalker venom if that's what you're thinking, buddy. Besides which, Aura boosts Constitution.]

…

Which boosts resistance to poisons. Shit.

Regardless, I stick it in my inventory and move on to the rest of what the Huntsman dropped.

2000 experience? Heck, that's still 2/3rds of a level, so I'll DAMN well take it.

1000 lien? Glorious loot!

…A broken scroll…..

…..

Holy shit. Is that?

[ **Poisoner's Pouch**

Contains 25 capsules with various poisons, from 'sleeping like the dead' to 'natural causes'. Each capsule uses a tiny Dust charge as propellant, and is sufficient to take out one person who does not have aura.]

I immediately swipe it. Could come in handy.

"I was expecting something more, but this works." I comment.

"What's it do?" Ruby asks eagerly.

"Dart rifle and sword. I reckon if we slap a scope on this baby—if it doesn't come with one—it'll even be able to take out or weaken any dangerous human fugitives we come across. Er. Or faunus. Fuck it, let's go with 'metahuman'."

"…..Metahuman?" Blake comments archly.

"Yeah, you know, like, 'more than human'? Term from a game I played once where it included elves, orcs, trolls, dwarves and humans alike without actually catering to any one species."

"…What are Orcs? And trolls Trolls? And what do short people have to do with this?"

…

"Oh my god, you're like my personal Nappa." I groan.

[Eeeeeey.]

"…..What's a Nappa?"

"Oh my god…." I groan. "Look, orcs, trolls, and dwarves, are entirely fictional, excluding the 'midget' definition of dwarf. Orcs and trolls are bigger, badder, uglier, and stronger human-like creatures. I use 'human-like' more roughly here. In most culture, they're the 'evil' humanoids wherever they crop up, but the game I mentioned doesn't discriminate. Well, I mean, they get pulled more as muscle, but I can assure you that's more a matter of practicalities than discrimination. Dwarves are typically short. Really short. Also, besides the obvious, they really like alcohol, money, and fighting. On the other hand, they also generally prefer to fight evil things so at the end of the day they're still firmly on the 'good' side of humanoids, speaking generally. If I'm not mistaken, this armor is themed after one of the evil variants of dwarves. Which makes me….oh-so-HAPPY." I grumble. "Goddamn Snow White and her Dwarf company…." I grumble.

Yang snerks lightly, and Blake glances at her questioningly. "The Snow Dwarf Company!"

"…Okay, that's a little funny." Blake allows as Ruby laughs. "Anyway, on Remnant Humanity is generally used to refer to faunus and humans, though depending on context it might not be."

I shrug. "But at the least, my term is more specific, and includes any other human-like races that may or may not exist on Remnant."

"…..Pretty sure we'd **know** if Humans and Faunus weren't the only sentient race."

"Really? You're telling me that every square mile of land has been explored? That every forest has been combed, every hillside, and such?" I quirk a eye. "Not to mention that you have creatures of darkness on every corner, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a touch more magic to this world than you know."

"The only _MAGIC_ I've seen in this world is you." Blake points out.

…

We all look at her for a second and she turns bright red. "GODDAMMIT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN."

I glance at Yang. "Do you know where I can find a good chastity belt?" I stage whisper, making Blake redden further. Yang, meanwhile, roars with laughter. Ruby blushes only a little. "All joking aside, this is true, but my world has neither Aura nor Magic, and I'm fairly sure at least some Grimm can use magic."

"Wait, what?"

"Psssh, relax, it's not like they're using anything you didn't already know about it, now you just have more context for what they're doing." I point out.

"Fair enough." Blake sighs.

"Anyway, onward! To ass-kicking!" I call out grandly, raising my katars.


	19. Chapter 19:Alliance against the Horde

Author's Note: Please remember to leave a review! Every review leaves me slightly more motivated, and constructive criticism(or even constructive praise-you can have non-constructive praise just like criticism) will actually improve the future chapters, perhaps!

* * *

Perhaps it's because I'm not in a caffeine-fueled rage, or because there are four of us now, but even though we're mowing down zombies nearly constantly, the girls aren't tiring, nor am I. Though my health and aura eventually start to lag behind a little, near the four hundredth zombie we kill. I pause for a moment to survey the area. I'm starting to get tired of having to move to collect EVERY SINGLE FUCKING SOUL. Maybe I can just….

I focus on a soul, trying to pull it to me. It starts to stir a little. I focus HARDER. It slowly inches over, and when it reaches me, I get a ping.

[Through concentrated power of will and exercise of magic, you have created the skill [ **Soul Magnet** ]!

 **Soul Magnet** level 1, 5% Cost:250 mp

Tags the nearest 1 unmarked soul, which will approach your current location at a rate of 1 meter per second. Range Limit:100 meters]

Huh. Well, that _sucks_. Regardless, in order to level it, obviously I'll have to use it. I start repeatedly using it, munching casually on some chicken from my inventory since I was low on health and aura anyway. Around the twentieth soul I get a second ping.

[ **Soul Magnet** level 2, 0% Cost:300 mp

Tags the nearest 2 unmarked souls, which will approach your current location at a rate of 1.1 meters per second. Range limit:105 meters]

Huh. So leveling increased the range, speed, and number of souls attracted, but also increased the price as well. As long as it works on pseudosouls, well….

I grin, resuming my spam of the skill. It reaches level 3 (350 mp, 3 souls, 1.2 meters/second and 110 meters, in case you didn't get the pattern) and a good chunk of experience before I've mopped up the nearby zombie souls.

…..Wait, but I still need to collect the loot.

Well, fuck, that was _pointless_. I smile sheepishly before moving to collect it. I wonder idly if there was some ability I would be able to pick up later to make THAT easy.

Since I had higher Luck, I ended up with scrags of Rotten Flesh(Oh, hey, like Minecra—I'm _**not**_ eating that.) and a few rings. Curious, I Observe them.

Hey, these are brass, not gold! I've been robbed! And the ones with gems are quartz or worse, stained glass!

[Dude, you only have _17_ luck]

….Fair enough.

With a sigh, I look over some of my other loot. Almost nothing of note, but….

…

Really? A copy of Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter? These are ZOMBIES, not vampires!

[Sorry, mixed up my undead loot tables on one of them.]

…..Wait, you actually had that on the loot table? And you HAVE loot tables?

I've never actually watched this thing, and I frankly never plan to. Nevertheless, I pull out the disk with a grin. I look around and see a zombie.

Okay, deep breaths…

I activate Aura and hurl the disk with all my might, like a frisbee. To my delight, either the zombie's skull is worn, or that was actually a damn good throwing weapon, since it sliced the top of it's head off before the zombie vanished as normal.

[Really? Shaun of the dead? And that wasn't even a vinyl, just a cd!]

It worked. I smirk and go to collect the loot from that kill.

* * *

All in all, I gathered another few thousand lien, a little under half of which I distributed to the girls with a grin

"What are you going to do with all this cash, anyway?" Yang asked as we exited the dimension into the dorm once more, having made a full circle. Fortunately, or perhaps not, we hadn't met any more hunters yet.

"I'm not sure yet." I comment. "I'm sure there's something productive I can do with it. Can you think of anything?"

Ruby hesitates for a moment. "You could buy some weapons to study?" She suggests.

"Mm…maybe. Anything else?"

Blake hesitates for a moment, stiffening slightly. I glance at her questioningly.

"You could buy some low-grade Atlesian surplus mechs." She says softly.

"Wait, they SELL those?" I ask.

"Not generally to the public at large, but you ARE connected, however thinly, to Schnee Dust Co, so I would imagine you'd be able to. It's just a matter of how much you'd need to pay."

I quirk a eyebrow. "Any idea how much they'd cost?"

"No. I would suggest you ask the resident Heiress, whenever she overcomes her embarrassment."

My eyes narrow slightly, but I don't press her. "Fine." I shrug. "Well, since we have some time, I suppose I'd better teach **SOMEBODY** how to meditate." I give Yang a Look and she quails.

"What are you talking about?" She chuckles, trying to deflect my gaze.

"Meditation is either **SILENT** or **GUIDED.** It does NOT _**go 'OOOOOOOOUM'."**_ I say flatly.

"Then what **IS** meditating?"

"….Sit. Allow your mind to become empty. And this point is important: **DO NOT FOCUS ON CLEARING YOUR MIND**. Because that counts as focusing on something. Just sit there and let go of your thoughts as they come to you." I glance at Ruby. "That goes for you too." I state.

Ruby responds by pouting cutely at me.

"That won't work on me. I am immune to cute." I lie flatly. "If you don't do this, then you'll fall behind the rest of us because this technique enhances your ability to recover aura immensely. I'm only level 20 in it, and it boosts my aura recovery passively by 40%, or actively triples it."

Her eyes widen even as she lets out a cute huff.

"Yang, do you know of anywhere I could possibly find fighters outside of Huntsmen?" I ask casually.

"….Why?"

"Because, from what I can tell, you can't become a hunter as a adult—but that doesn't stop people from learning how to fight after their childhood. Similarly, just because they aren't incredibly elite doesn't mean they wouldn't be a boon to have on our side if something happens, no?"

Her eyes narrow but she lets it pass, giving me directions to Junior's Bar after a minute of hesitation. I thank her before heading out.

While I'm out, I do my best to pick up anything I could need for a disguise along with some generic weapons before stopping in a alley and using Instant Dungeon and pulling a mirror. Time to see how good I could do at changing my appearance.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, in a entirely different alley, a grizzled-looking 27-year-old man appears with a beard shaven down to JUST that level of length where you had that rugged, 5-o-clock-shadowed detective look going, paired with a set of mirrored sunglasses.

Of course, grizzled was the wrong word, since said man was a toothed Wolf faunus, and not a Bear one. Not that many would be able to tell the difference in what kind of faunus he was from the teeth. He was fairly well armed, openly carrying two pistols on his belt and two light knives strapped to his shoulders. He's dressed in black jeans, a sleeveless vest and t-shirt. Atop his head is a fedora.

After all, you dress to impress, and first impressions matter.

He steps into the bar, drawing a bit of attention. Unsurprising, really, given how handsome he is.

I-er, he slaps down 25 lien. "A double of scotch, if you would." Not that I knew what that meant, but he was feeling cocky. Wait, shit, I mean…..

Alright, fine. So **I'm** the guy in the bar.

Junior raised a eyebrow before sliding a drink down to me. I catch it deftly and down it in one motion. "You're awfully well dressed for a night out on the town." He says casually, eyeing the 25 lien then me. "And I do believe you've overpaid."

" _Have_ I?" I say quietly with a grin, showing my wolf-teeth. "Perhaps, but not if you can tell me where I can find some hired muscle that can take orders."

To his credit, Junior barely reacts to what I just said, eyes widening for the briefest of moments. "Why, of course, sir." He says a bit loudly. "The wine cellar is right that way." He gestures with a thumb. "Give me a minute to make sure none of our other patrons go thirsty and join me there." He bustles off for a minute, glancing at one of the twins and then the back room. She quickly moves to cover the room with a nod.

After a minute, I join him there. "You play a interesting game, stranger. What's your name?" He asks casually. His posture hints at a threat.

"Hmmmmmm, how should I put this… I intend to start a new side."

He tenses. "I'm not interested in joining anyone else's gang, and you have some n—"

"I said a side, not a gang." I say firmly. "My goal is more important than turf or money. Well, in a way, I guess it is turf….. My aim is simple. Keep the peace."

"….I'm listening."

"We're in the middle of a rather….tumultuous time. Merely 80 years ago was the Great War, and the Faunus Rights Revolution was barely three generations later. Every time there's a war, one group benefits more than any other. The Grimm. Like it or not, if the Grimm win we all lose. My….Employer not only has a lead on a revolutionary line of Grimm study, but wishes to maintain the peace by any means necessary."

Junior hesitates. "What about the Fang?" He asks cautiously.

"What ABOUT the Fang? They, or at least a radical offshoot of them, have declared total war on humans. Since humans are about 90% of the population, that qualifies as a rather significant threat to the peace." I smile and shrug. "While I confess that I sympathize with their DESIRES, their METHODS are impossible to condone. I would not sentence them all to death, but I am sure there are those among them who have more than earned it."

"And what does this have to do with me?" He asks.

"Like I said, I need muscle. I could also use a ear to the ground—someone who has enough of a finger on the pulse of the world to know when the Fang are moving."

"And if I refuse?"

"I would leave you, unless one day you became a threat yourself to the peace of the world."

"And if I did?" Junior asks warily.

"I would attempt to convince you to stop. If you refused to see reason, I would stop you personally."

He pauses before roaring with laughter. "You have guts, stranger. I can respect that." He says. "What do I get if I help you?" He asks.

I pause, uncertain of the proper amount with which to bribe him. I hesitate before lifting a palm. I close my fingers, and when I open them, 500 lien is in my palm.

"Neat trick." He comments uncertainly. "But that's a little small for the risks I'd be taking."

I shrug, close it again, and this time when my hand opens 1500 is in my hand.

He hesitates, greed and distrust battling in his eyes. "That'll do for a advance. I expect to be paid whenever I have valuable info, too. More if you want to hire any men."

"I give you this, and the next two bits of info you deem valuable are free." I speak. "I'll judge whether your services are worth the Lien from there."

His face cracks into a broad smile. "Deal." He says firmly. "What should I call you, anyway?"

"…..The Courier. Or, when I have to do wetwork or only those you trust are around, Death's Courier."

He quirks his eyebrows. "Proud, aren't you?"

I let out a raspy chuckle. "You'll see." I say casually. I summon a card into my hand and toss it to him before vanishing mysteriously.

The card bears the number of a burner scroll. You can never be too careful when founding a secret society, after all. I move back to the alley I originated from while removing the disguise, then reappear in the real world and return to Beacon.

* * *

I glance at the TV screen on the way into the dorm.

Oh. My. God.

"Are you tired of buying your dust from a mother*king discriminatory c*nt?" Asked the musclebound, scarred, shirtless man on screen. "Because I know I would be! Here at Torgue Dust, we don't discriminate between our f*cking workers, **BECAUSE EVERYONE GETS EQUALLY EXPLODED. AURA IS F*CKING AWESOME**!" He hefts his gatling rocket launcher into the air. "And we also have a **GODD*MN EXTENSIVE LINE OF EXPLOSIVES** , from Dust MIRVs to Dust Grenades to **F*CKING DUST ROCKETS! SO COME BUY YOUR SH*T FROM TORGUE DUST TODAY, B*TCH!** "

…."Oh my god, it's Mister Torgue?!"

"You know about this beast?" Weiss asks from her seat.

"Weiss, he's only one of the most badass people in our media. He loses to Chuck Norris, obviously, and a few others, but still. He once wrestled a shark in a bolo tie and won."

"Who was wearing the bolo tie, the shark or Torgue?" asked Yang.

"Answer:YES." I quote with a smirk.

"Wait, so….him and the shark were wearing one bolo tie?" Asked Ruby, prompting a laugh from Yang.

"Uh….That, I'd have to ask the man himself." I smile sheepishly.

Ruby cocks her head. "What's up with your teeth?"

Uh. I quickly deactivate the skill. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Ruby." I look at Yang. "Has she gotten into the milk again?"

Ruby narrows her eyes at me. I would need to be more vigilant about deactivating that skill. Weiss might make a issue of it even if she knew I wasn't actually a faunus, and besides, it would be good to keep the Courtier from being associated with Hart in any way, by anyone. Safety through obscurity. Two men can keep a secret if one is dead and all that.

"So, Hart, how did it end up going?" Asks Yang.

"Let's just say that I ended up with a contact I can call on in case of a true threat to Vale." I say mystically. "And one who will contact me if they hear of one."

"…..But won't contact the Headmaster, or someone in a position of authority?" Asked Blake.

"Indeed. I'm sure that they'll try to maneuver me to take a little bit of advantage of our….agreement. But as long as it's only a little bit, I'm alright with it. Of course, sometimes I will have to ignore their intel in order to keep from exposing them….." I say. "Spycraft is a careful balancing act. Too much action, and you expose your spies, but the less action you take, the more it weighs on your soul."

Weiss turns, narrowing her eyes. "Remember, I'm in charge. I don't want you taking any stupid risks."

"Of course not. Stupid risks are a group activity." I nod my head at her as her eyes narrow even more, irritated by my joke.

"This is no time for jokes. Do you KNOW what happened while you were out?"

"No?"

-Blake's POV, 1 hour earlier-

"Excuse me, WHAT did you just say?"

"I said, nice ass, babe." Jeered Cardin.

"With a chest to match!" Catcalled Lark.

My face was white with fury, lips drawn.

"Tell me, did that little wimp Grustlon even know where to stick it?" Asked Cardin mockingly. "Or was he maybe too much of a little bitch to join in, just sat in a corner jerking it while the four of you went at it?"

I turn and walk away, every muscle in my body radiating contempt. The ass wiggle, however, that Hart had commented on was nearly impossible to suppress thanks to my irritation and drew more catcalls and wolf whistles from CRDL.

* * *

…

"Haha, WHAT." My body RADIATES sheer rage as I stand there.

"So, you know what we have to do, right?" Asks Weiss.

"Kick their asses, then prove that we're better than them in every OTHER way, too?" I ask casually?

"More the second part, but…yeah, pretty much." She says.

I pause. "Their leader. Cardin. He doesn't seem much for finesse, does he….? Yang, do me a favor. Would you be alright if I tested a throw on you?"

"…I guess. Can't let CRDL get away with that, they might decide to get bolder." She grumbles, eyes glancing to Ruby with a glimmer of concern. "Or…"

"Alright, alright. Let's go to the Empty dimension." I say casually, dropping a hand on her shoulder before activating it.

I move away.

"Now, give me a overhand. I need to see how throws work against aura."

She nods, and after a second, her fist is flying downwards. I activate my own Aura and grab her wrist, yanking down and back and sending her tumbling past me, head over heels. Her back hits the ground with a sickening crack. I ignore the ping I hear.

"Oh, shit, are you alrig—" She hops right up, and I see that what cracked was the ground. "Oh, right, Aura."

"Holy shit, that hurt." She complains, rubbing her back. She glances down, eyes widening at the cracks in the ground.

"So, to summarize, throws still work…" I glance at the message.

[Through performing a martial arts technique, you have obtained the skill [Aikido]!

Through previous life experience, Aikido has leveled to 15!

Aikido level 15 35%

+15% greater chance of throws and hyperextension-type pins succeeding

+45% pain from hyperextensions

+15 Dexterity

+15% Dexterity]

Huh, apparently a green belt was worth level 15.

That said.

FUCK OFF. I KNOW MARTIAL ARTS ALREADY, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE THIS A SKILL.

Though I do appreciate the Dexterity.

"Alright, now could you throw a backhand?"

"You aren't going to try to shatter my arm, are you?" She asks warily.

"Nnnnnnno….."

She sighs suspiciously before doing so. I catch it behind the elbow and at the wrist and spin her around, applying pressure behind her elbow. She soon crumbles to the ground.

"Ah! What the fuck! What are you doing!" She squirms before managing to yank her arm from my grasp, to my amazement. That almost never happened.

"Huh, so armbar is partially successful. I think I can definitely use this against Cardin…."

"Where the fuck did a squirt like you learn a armbar?"

"What do you mean?" I ask the indignant Huntress.

"They only actually teach soldiers in Atlas how to fight humans in hand to hand. It's presumed that Hunters will always be armed or fighting Grimm if not armed." She says. "I mean, kicks and stuff work equally well on humans and grimm, and they teach that... but..."

"Well, where I come from, humans are pretty much the only thing that humans fight, and martial arts are fairly common to protect oneself from muggers and the like. Nowhere near universal or even the norm, but you can find a dojo or two in pretty much every city."

Yang looks at me evaluatingly. "What Ruby told me Weiss said is right. We DO stand a chance at actually winning Vytal because of you." She grins before cuffing me on the shoulder. "But first comes CRDL."

I nod. "Nobody catcalls one of us like that and gets away with it. "

"That's the spirit. Come on, you need to keep working on those throws. Let's make sure that when you throw him, Cardin can't even walk afterwards…"


	20. Chapter 20:Break Action

Author's Note:I finally worked out Hart's current stats!

 **Base:**

Strength 28

Dexterity 17

Constitution 25

Wisdom 23

Intelligence 30

Charisma 20

Luck 17

 **Gearless W/Skills**

Strength 31.36

Dexterity 38.1

Constitution 15.5

Wisdom 27.4

Intelligence 45.35

Charisma 20

Luck 17

 **W/gear**

Strength 39.76

Dexterity 40.82

Constitution 18

Wisdom 29.93

Intelligence 45.35

Charisma 20

Luck 17

* * *

About a hour later, we have to call it because Yang's aura is starting to dip towards 20%. Even though the throws didn't do much to Aura, I got the feeling it would be far more effective when I actually tossed in some attacks when Cardin was down. And hey, I reached 16 Aikido(Which was nice if only for the Dexterity, even if I was still irritated about making that a skill.) and gained some Constitution and base Dexterity to boot.

Of course, after that it's also pretty much time to turn in for the night, even if I had got 8 hours of sleep earlier to gain levels. So we go back to the dorm and pop back into existence to drop off Yang before I slip back into the Empty Dimension and plop down on the bed that's my own, stretching out before starting to meditate. Wait, no, I need to train my Aura! I should also do something with my Mana... Hmmm...

I attempt to channel my mana into my body.

HNNNNNNNNGH

[Through making a ill-advised effort, you have created the skill **Mana Oversaturation**!

 **Mana Oversaturation** Cost:750 MP/Minute Lv 1 1%

Forces mana through your body at unhealthy levels, forcing your body to toughen up in response and charging certain abilities. Required for mana enhancement, reinforcement, and shielding techniques.

Causes 1000 damage per minute

Trains Constitution at intensity 1.5

Charges **?** and **?** by 1%/minute]

Oh, son of a BITCH that hurt. I quickly deactivate it about 100 hp in, panting and sweating. I pause to consider and open my Options to see if I can get a alert at low health. Sure enough, I can, so I activate that at 33% health.

I get up and go buy some painkillers, which eats about ten minutes of my time, and then observe the pill bottle.

 **[Painkiller** x100

Grants status: **Dead Nerves** for 1 hour

 **Dead Nerves**

10% Resistance to damage

-10% **Wisdom**

+20% **Constitution**

+10% **Strength**

-10% **Dexterity**

Reduces tactile feedback, including pain responses

 **Warning:** Stacking this buff can have strong negative consequences and is ill-advised.]

Hmm. Well, that Constitution was very welcome-and the Wisdom shouldn't have a massive impact because it subtracts ten percent of my base wisdom from before meditation! I would just have to worry about popping one every hour until I was sure my Constitution would keep up...or just keep popping them because I'm SURE it would still hurt like a BITCH even if I healed faster than it hurt me.

I pop one in my mouth and chase it with a swig of Ol' King Cold before lying down again, humming softly before activating **Aura, Mana Oversaturation** (That still kind of stings, dammit) and **Meditation.**

* * *

The seventh time I'm roused from my deep meditation by a jolt of pain, I stop, popping back into the normal dimension and lying there. I wait for a few minutes before sitting up, opening my eyes.

...

I then immediately close them again. "O-oh god, I'm sorry!" I yelp.

There's a pause. "Sorry? About what?" Yang asks casually.

"Well, I mean...you're in your bra and..."

"Psh, that? What, have you never been in a locker room before? I thought you were 19?"

"Uh... Yeah, a male locker room."

"...Wait, what? But I thought all locker rooms were based on teams?" Yang said.

"Not on Earth."

"Oh, right..." She pauses. "Dammit, stop acting flustered, now you're making me embarassed."

"Sorry, that's not happening. It'll happen sooner if you put on a fucking shirt."

I hear a huff and the rustle of fabric.

Wait, since when did any fabric rustle that much?

[Wisdom is also keen senses, pal. Hence why your wolf-tooth skill boosts it.]

Aaaaaaah.

I open my eyes after a minute. "Thank you." I grumble. "Gonna need a curtain for this damn bed if I'm going to be popping in and out like that, I guess."

"Probably a good idea." Blake commented, smirking.

I sigh and get up, stretching. "I'm SO ready to kick Cardin's ass." I comment.

"Hey, who says you get to do it, anyway?" Weiss asked.

"Well, for one, I feel like I was actually kind of the most insulted in that thing Blake described, though I suppose Blake has dibs for the catcalling being directed at her."

Blake shrugs. "I for one would like to see how Hart has progressed." She comments lightly. "All we've seen in fights against a actually powerful opponents were clever tricks, no out and out brawling. Even if it was a incredibly clever trick and I've since seen him mow down multiple weaker foes, that isn't enough for us to gain a real idea of his actual power, now is it?" She says casually.

"So it's settled, then. I'll kick Cardin's ass in combat class." I state bluntlly.

Breakfast passes swiftly, and soon we have our first class-pure survival training. I learn a few ranks of **Natural Chemistry** during the day's lecture(which started at 5-I guess knowing about things like St. John's Wort and Goldenseal pays off a little) before it's time to go off to lunch, which similarly goes by fast.

Oh, yeah, Nat Chemistry. Wonder why that was different from Herbalism...

[ **Natural Chemistry** level 8 23%

+32% quality of herb-based consumables crafted

+4% Wisdom

+8% Poison Resistance]

Hm. Seems that crafting skills are my main source of elemental resistances besides gear.

At the end of the day is combat training and I immediately volunteer. I swapped into a sleeveless white shirt and white shorts, the closest I could scrounge to a actual gi on short notice. Well, ok, I could have found a long-sleeved white shirt, but that would restrict my movements. Indeed, this getup actually buffs my Dexterity by 5% and treats all martial arts skills as 1 higher. Hey, every bit counts.

"Huh...Greyhart, again?" Glynda quirks a eyebrow. "Very well, who do you wish to be paired off against?"

"Cardin Winchester."

Cardin's eyes snap open, and he starts laughing. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

"Oh, so you're a masochist? Just keep it in your pants."

I hear a sharp intake of breath and some barked laughs from the stands. Cardin's eyes glimmer with malice as he gets down to the arena. I bow lightly, remembering my aikido days, and glance up, already moving in anticipation of exactly what I saw.

God, bullies are so predictable. His mace slams down where my head was a second ago as my hands raise, grasping his mace hand and yanking it down to the ground just as I did with Yang's overhead.

What I didn't account for was just HOW much more kinetic energy he put in than Yang did. Oh, he goes flying alright, and crashes into the wall, but he did it a lot faster. He gets to his feet a little wobbly and shakes his head to clear it. He lets out a challenging shout before charging and bringing his mace around in a roundhouse. I whirl around, gripping his wrist and chopping his elbow with my right hand. I hop back as he falls to the floor, Desert Sting appearing in my hands. In seconds the bow is strung and I nock a arrow, loosing it as he staggers back to his feet, more dazed than aura-drained from hitting the ground and wall.

Luckily for him, I didn't use a dust-tipped arrow. Still, he lets out a cry of pain as the arrow strikes his arm and bounces off-Aura strikes again, I note. Desert Sting is already away as he comes in with a mace-uppercut. I move to the side, my hand once again capturing his wrist and pulling it up until it comes to a stop on it's own.

I take a second to look him in the eye. He looks right back, rage tinged with resignation in his eye.

I bring his wrist back down at a angle with both hands, forcing him to throw himself over his wrist in order to relieve the hyperextension there. I hear the hisses of sympathy and instinctive recognition of sheer pain from the peanut gallery.

This time, I don't let him up-I move to lock him into a armbar and set my knee just above his elbow, applying almost all my body weight to it. His face pales and he whines with the pain-not a low whine, but a high, drawn-out, reedy noise. He flails with his other hand, trying to get at me, do something, anything to get me off. Well, anything but yield. I glance up at the aura-board, shrug, and call one of the pistols I bought for my disguise into my hand. I jam it into the small of his back.

"Apologize to me and my team." I growl.

"F-fuuuuuuuuck! Y-you!" He manages to growl back. I can almost respect that kind of sheer balls.

Almost.

I lift the pistol a bit, realizing the bullets would stay in the actual barrel if I didn't, and, looking up at the aura board, pull the trigger, once, twice...

"Enough! Cardin, you have lost, we're NOT going to make you take that." Glynda says sternly.

I huff and get up, stowing the pistol and walking back to my team.

"Holy shit, Hart." Yang mutters. "What the fuck was that?"

"Unfriendly training." I smirk

"You know, I think if we're going with training being innuendo, 'unfriendly training' would be code for either rape or angry sex." Blake points out.

Ruby turns a bright red at Blake's 'innocent' comment. Meanwhile, I wince.

"Please don't bring that up, at least when it's me against a guy..." I say. I pause. "Especially Cardin."

"Fair enough." Blake grumbles.


	21. Chapter 21

Later that night, in the middle of my training, my scroll buzzes.

* * *

Junior:

They're making a move, Courier.

Courier:

Understood. Where to?

Junior:

That new shop, southwest side of town. Belongs to that big guy, name of Torgue. Showed up on TV. Apparently they don't like him cashing in, however subtly, on the SDC/Fang conflict.

Courier:

When?

Junior:

Half hour after sunset.

I glance out the window. The sun was just starting to dip a little.

Courier:

Understood. I take it that if I find anything of value on these pawns you know somewhere I can offload it?

Junior:

Really? I would have thought that sort of thing was beneath those of lofty ideals such as yours.. But yeah.

Courier:

You know what they say.

Finders keepers. Losers bleeders.

Junior:

Well, that's not ominous at all.

* * *

I roll my eyes and sleep the scroll, turning to my standard scroll.

* * *

Hart:

Hey, you old crow. I could use a bit of backup on something. Don't want to get the girls involved in this.

Qrow:

I'm listening. And don't call me that.

Hart:

In a few hours, there's going to be a clash between someone and the Fang. I need you to hang around and, if need be, intercede on their behalf.

Qrow:

Is this someone someone I know?

Hart:

Now that would be telling, old man. Besides, if anyone asks, you'll be able to say you have no idea who it could be.

Qrow:

Ah. The joys of plausible deniability. Where will this encounter occur?

Hart:

The new dust shop in the southwest quadrant. Torgue Co?

Qrow:

I know the place.

Hart:

Damn well better. Be there 15 after sunset.

Qrow:

Gotcha.

That done, I begin making preparations. The first thing I do is go deal with the Knight-Night. Then I immediately splurge on twenty energy drinks-it runs me around 60 lien in larger cases, but I consider it worth it. I hesitate before going to a toy store in my Courier disguise. I pull out 300 lien.

"I want as many marbles as you can get me for a hundred fifty lien. The other half is for you to not talk about this." I say. The man behind the counter swallows and nods before bringing me the requested marbles. They vanish, and shortly after, so do I in a back alley.

Hmmm, I should really consider a symbol. I also spend 100 lien on a pair of crappy swords(but, at least when Aura reinforced, good enough to punch a hole in stone) and drop by a faux taxidermist's.

"I would like a fake Beowulf head, please." I say, still in my Courier mode. It runs me about 75 lien, and I fade away again afterwards. Hmm, marbles, check, a message, check... Was there anything else I could use to even the odds?

Oh, how about a mask of my own? I buy some plaster and make a blank mask with nothing but two eyeholes and a nose hole punched in it. I check the sky.

The sun's almost setting. I have to hurry. I zip around my empty dimension until I'm near the place, then drop out.

It was just about time for action. I perched on a rooftop and pulled out the Knight-Night, loading it with a sleeper canister.

I glance down.

Oh, THAT'S not good. There are twenty goons flanking Roman Torchwick

Well, let's see how many are up after this.

I take careful aim at Roman and fire off the sleeper capsule before jumping down.

"Nice masks, fellas."

They all swivel as the capsule strikes a glancing blow, bursting against Roman's cheek. At least half of it landed on the ground. Shit.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of them demands.

"A fellow roleplayer." I smirk behind the mask as I switch to sword mode.

"What?" another one says confusedly.

"I'll tell you what, how about we have a RP right now?" I pause dramatically.

"I'll be the serial killer, and you can be my victims."

I glide forward, spinning in a quick circle to deliver a Power Attack with Knight-Night as my free hand suddenly sprouts a pistol, which I fire rapidly into the midst of them. Despite Aura, the one I attack obtains a deep gash in his arm. As he goes down, the pistol disappears from my hand and I rip the mask from his face with that hand, and then it's replaced with the pistol again.

One Fang is coming in with a hammer, but it isn't much trouble to roll to the side and lunge in with my sword as the hammer strikes the ground. One Power Strike and his aura is low. I mash his face with a left hook and it's broken, along with his nose.

Ok, now I've stirred up the hornet's nest, time to retreat. I drop a quarter of my marbles and ID out as they scatter across the street. I climb a wall to one of the roofs and reappear, looking down. About half of them have gone down, but the other half seem to have both slipped out of the way of their falling comrades and stayed more or less stationary. Torchy's still up, too.

I pull out my guns. Time to add a bit of incentive to move. I open fire with both pistols and the standing Fang start to move, two more of them going down to the marbles, though some of them make it to cover. Tch. I keep firing, but I pause when I see Roman lining up a shot. I quickly roll to the side as he fires.

And then I hear something from below me. A crash, followed by a whirr. A door slams forward, ripped off it's hinges, and clips Roman's arm. He goes down amidst the marbles. And then the explosions start. I peer out from my cover on the roof and...

Oh god, it's Mister Torgue. This was not part of the plan. I take a moment to assess the situation before spotting one trying to flee. I hop off the roof and move to cut off his path.

"And where do you think you're going, broken tooth?" I say casually. "Did you forget about our little game?"

He flinches as I bare my sharp teeth. "But-But you're one of us! A Faunus! Why are you doing this?" He babbles.

"Because you're soft. Lapdogs." I let out a bark of laughter that's not too far off from a actual bark. Not even intentionally. "Heh, lapdogs. I didn't even intend that pun. And that's all you are to his kind, regardless of what kind of Faunus you are-a dog intended to heel to their master." I lash out, smashing the pommel of the blade into the Fang's head, and he collapses bonelessly. I rip the mask from his face, too, before stowing it. I smirk and turn to glance at Torgue and...

Oh, God. Five of the fangs have orbs hovering over them where they lay in pools of their own blood, and the rest are fleeing or unconscious. Roman's nowhere to be seen.

I think I might be sick, but at the same time, this is the first chance I'll get to try to do something very, very stupid. I return my sword to the Inventory before giving Torgue a curt nod, moving to one of the dead Fangs and carefully focusing as I slowly bring my hand into contact.

Don't absorb the soul, don't absorb the soul... Ok, I haven't absorbed the soul. Next I slowly, tentatively guide the soul down to the body.

[Error:HP under 0!]

Huh. I focus again.

I force as much energy as I can into the Fang while focusing on knitting flesh, both Aura and Mana.

[Through concentrated application of Mana guided by Aura, you have created the skill Repair Body!

Repair Body Cost:500 Aura+500 Mana level 1

Restores 250 HP, even to the dead, undead, automatons, dead automatons, dead undead, and undead automatons!

Dead undead automatons are right out. No, I'm kidding, even dead undead automatons.

On living targets, or dead targets that are resurrected, inflicts the debuff [Imprecise Repair]

Imprecise Repair

You have been 'healed' with a extremely imprecise technique. Accordingly, while you are further from death, you are also further from optimal function.

Damages Constitution and Strength by 20%, and Dexterity by 25%

Recovers with time. Aura and physical therapy enhance recovery speed]

I cast it a few times before guiding the soul into the body.

[I wouldn't do that, Hart...]

Shut up, Death.

[ **Warning: Very expensive action!** ]

I said shut up! I couldn't just watch someone die, and I might be able to pump them for information.

[Through being a complete dumbass and not listening to instructions, you have gained the skill **Insert Anima**!

 **Insert Anima** has reached level 2

 **Insert Anima** Cost:3000 XP+MP Level 2 25%

Restores a soul to a physical form. Higher levels reduce time needed to acclimate to body, as does using original host, and reduces odds of serious consequences. Serious consequence chance can also be reduced by expending extra Experience and using original host. Current Consequence chance: 89%. Cost to reduce: 1000/point; Host Reduction:5%

 **Serious Consequence!** You did not have enough experience with this skill, causing you to accidentally consume half their soul. +5000 EXP, afflicted subject Onyx with Status:Fractured-Soul Coma]

The only thing stopping me from vomiting (despite the not exactly unpleasant sensation of eating half a soul)when I saw what I had done by accident was Gamer's Mind. But at the same time, what if I needed to bring one of my friends back to life one day? No, I would have to continue bringing my minor enemies to life, even if it meant eating a dozen souls. I ignore the conflicted way thinking about accidentally eating human souls makes me feel and rip off his mask. I leave the other Fangs alone, collecting their weapons and masks. I could at least sell them for scrap. Once I have all the masks, I stack all but one of them and toss down the Beowolf head next to them. I slam one shitty sword through the taxidermied head, and the other through the masks, then vanish into thin air.

More specifically, into the Zombie dimension. I had a LOT of very recently repressed anger and disgust to work my way through.

I take a moment to examine the Fang mask before I go.

[ **Mask of the Fang**

Charisma=5

+50% Wisdom

+20% Str

Disguise:White Fang(Member)

Uniform:White Fang(Member)

Disguises set you to a different set of reputation from normal. Faction disguises come in different ranks-for instance, the one you took belongs to a ordinary recruit of a disguise-compatible faction. Typically, higher rank disguises are harder to pull off.

While wearing a factional disguise, those who do not know it is you treat you as a normal member of that faction. Those who know who you are but do not know why you're wearing it will treat you differently from normal depending on level of trust and opinion of disguised faction.

Uniforms differ from disguises in that if you are actually a member of that faction, you will typically recieve slightly better treatment if in a rank-appropriate uniform than not from members of that faction, but still use normal relations. Typically, uniforms and faction disguises only differ in that disguises somehow conceal identifying features. Not all uniforms are faction disguises, but all faction disguises are uniforms.

Non-faction disguises on the other hand use their own personalized set of reputations, if used long term, or set all reputations to default for a member of disguise species and gender.

Speaking of which...

Disguise, Death's Courier

 **White Fang** : -1000/-5000: **Hostile**

 **Adam Taurus** : -3000/-7000: **Seeing Red**

 **Huntsmen** : 100/1000: **Curious**

 **Mr Torgue High-Five Flexington** : 500/1000: **Slightly Badass**

 **Roman Torchwick** : -250/-1000: **Annoyance**

 **People of Vale** : +/-25/+-1000: **Mildly Interesting**

 **Police Force of Vale** :+/-100/+/-1000: **Wanted for questioning** ]

Goddamn, connotations aside, that 50% wisdom was sweet. Maybe something to wear in dungeons only.

In any case, I should gather more experience now in case of future crises. And also vent my rage.


	22. Chapter 22:The Valish Inquisiton

"Ah, yes... Mister...Grustlon?"

"...I prefer Greyhart."

"I can see why." Qrow snickers from the side. I throw a venomous glare in his direction.

"Very well then, Mister Greyhart it shall be. I trust you know why you're here?"

My Qrow-ward glare grows a little more venomous. "I can't say as I do, Headmaster." I growl.

"He didn't tell me about your power. At least, he wasn't my first source of the information."

"What?! Then who?"

"I am afraid that that information is secret." He takes a sip of his coffee. Wait, that's not coffee. I sniff the air. That's... Hot chocolate?! I almost snort in amusement before catching myself.

"I will tell you that it was nobody of your team, in fact, nobody of this academy at all, who told me what I know of your power." Sip. "What Qrow DID tell me of that I didn't know was your rather...remarkable origin." Sip. "I will admit that I was mildly concerned you might be some sort of spy."

"Me? A spy? Why would you even think that?"

"...A paper trail seventeen years long appearing out of nowhere?" Ozpin inquired archly. "Including a story of a battle that never happened, a house that never existed, and the deaths of two other people who had even longer paper trails magically appear out of nowhere?" Sip. "I must say, whoever-or whatever-went to the work of faking it was incredibly thorough." Sip.

"Okay, stop that."

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"Sipping your hot cocoa. Just drink it! It's bad enough that you're drinking hot cocoa and it isn't even chilly out, you sipping at it is driving me fucking insane."

Ozpin and Qrow both blink. They blink again. Then they both burst into laughter. I roll my eyes at their reaction.

"Oh my god, that was almost exactly HER reaction!" Qrow manages to gasp out, wiping away a few tears-which might not be entirely just from how hard he laughed judging by his expression once he stops.

"In any case... Greyhart, I take it you were that...vigilante?" Ozpin inquires delicately.

"...Yes."

Another. Goddamn. Sip. "Tell me, then... If you can restore partial life to a dead man, what could you do with someone who was already on the cusp of death?"

"I...am uncertain. If it was someone important... I would suggest allowing me access to some in similar condition so I can attempt to improve my abilities in that particular regard first." I say carefully. "And even if I could do it, I'm still feeling a little uneasy about that guy. I... I would need to think about it."

I pause and glance at Qrow.

"I think I could use a drink. Have one to spare?"

"Kid, I always have a spare."

"...Could I have it?"

"I already drank it." He says deadpan.

I just...look at him. He must see in my eyes that I'm not in a humorous mood and pulls a bottle, tossing it casually to me. I uncork it and take a swig as Ozpin begins to speak.

"Do...Do you want to talk about what happened?"

I hesitate and take another swig.

"It was... It was supposed to bring that guy all the way back, what I did. But... Succeeding at it takes so much energy. Energy that I didn't have. As it is, it's a extremely risky procedure, and I can only negate that risk by either doing it over and over until I perfect it, or..." Swig. "Or by expending that energy. And once I expend it, I have to spend days or weeks regathering it, and I can only do that within a hour." I take another swig of the alcohol, ignoring the burning feeling in my throat. "I don't know if I can ever fix him, or anyone else I accidentally do that to. I... I don't know if I want to try. "

Qrow speaks up. "Because you're afraid of breaking something even worse."

I nod my head. "I don't know if I can do it, and yet if I don't... If someone from my team is killed, and I can't fix them, it'll be MY fault. Hell, if ANYONE dies in front of me and I can't fix them, it's my fault." I hold back tears.

"It's not your fault that people die, kid." Qrow says softly. Comprehendingly.

"I know that intellectually. But it'll still feel that way, deep inside. Not even that deep, really."

"Well...There's no use borrowing trouble?" He tries before Ozpin clears his throat. My gaze snaps upwards.

"Well, mister Greyhart... If you're really that interested in saving lives, then might I suggest a partial solution?" My eyebrows raise. "I hear you can make some use of...spiritualistic techniques." He says carefully. I nod slowwly, and he walks over to his desk, opening a drawer. He withdraws a medium sized book.

"A anonymous source told me that I would be needing this book." He says softly. "I think it was for you."

For some reason, as he says that, his hand clutches his cane a little. Once I take the book he offers me, he picks the mug back up and takes a gulp at it. I wonder idly when the last time he filled it was and whether it was the Anymug.

...

Some questions are better not answered, so I leave it unobserved. Instead, I transfer my gaze to the book in my hands. And roar with sudden, unrestrained, and slightly cathartic mirth.

The title read _Crystal Healing Techniques_.

After a few minutes of laughter, another wave bubbled up and I actually fall over laughing, howling. Thankfully, it doesn't devolve into crying. Both Ozpin and Qrow are looking at me like I'm a little crazy.

"...Kid? You ok?" Qrow asks.

"I-I'm f-fine..." I choke out. "It's just...of all the things to follow me from Earth, this little bit of quackery was the last one I expected." Another wave of mirth bubbles from my throat, and this time I do spill a few tears. "I-I'll read it, haha, and see if it's actually any use." Pffft. I manage to struggle to my feet.

* * *

"So, Oz, what did you think?" Qrow asked as I left the Headmaster's office.

"He certainly is a strange young man." Sip. "If I hadn't seen it myself in It, not to mention noticed his...indiscreet use of power, I would scarcely have believed what you said for a moment." Sip.

"Could we trust him with her?"

"Frankly... I'm not sure how much choice we have. We all know that Aura transfer thing was a desperate measure anyway, and had as much chance of killing both subjects as of actually transferring the Maiden's power." Sip. "Unfortunately, he's too much of a loose cannon to truly trust right now. From what you tell me, he's started to grow attached to this world, which is something."

"He seems like a good kid, if you ask me...The problem is, how good, and how misguided is he likely to end up becoming if he continues with whatever he dressed up for?"

Ozpin hmms. "What really concerns me is Chaos and the Baron he mentioned. Chaos by itself would be damning enough, but then to casually say that the other is even worse to the point where he will not divulge his name for fear of scaing us?" Sip. "Either Grustlon is embarrassed by the deal he made, or he made a particularly horrifying deal." Sip.

"Well, I'm personally hoping for the former." Qrow takes a large gulp from his flask. "I don't mind if whatever deal he made just means I need to give him the overprotective relative speech about Ruby and Yang, but if it leads to either actually getting hurt..." He drinks the rest of the flask and slams it down. "Then I'm going to hurt him, and badly." He growls.

* * *

"I told you not to do anything stupid!" Weiss yells as I enter the dorm.

"Well, hello to you too. What exactly am I being accused of? " I ask irritably.

"Don't play with me like that! We _both_ know you're the guy on tv!"

"Yeesh, alright, alright. God, I wasn't expecting some kind of Spanish Inquisition."

There's a expectant pause, as if somehow, Weiss and the others know something's supposed to happen after that.

"...Hm. They must be on vacation." I comment.

"Anyway, you could have been hurt or killed, and then where would we be?" Weiss snaps.

"In a all girls dorm, I imagine." I respond lazily, which earns me a slap to the face.

"IS THIS SOME SORT OF GAME TO YOU, YOU IDIOT?"

I just look at her, as does the rest of the team. She facepalms.

"JUST some sort of game, jackass."

"Of course not." I respond. "That's why I had to go deal with things. One:Actual combat experience is better than training for raising skills, which means handling situations like that will help me fight alongside you without handicapping you. Two:I saved a life. Well, partly. Sure, it might have been a member of the Fang, but comatose is a little better than death, I think?" I wince slightly, pointedly not looking at Blake. "Maybe when they regain consciousness, this whole militaristic Fang thing will have blown over." I say carefully. I pointedly ignore any reputation popups. "Or maybe they'll decide that it wasn't worth it."

"Like I care about those savages!" Weiss retorts hotly, and my ears pick up a soft growl from Blake. No, not a hiss, nor a catlike growl, just a actual growl that a human might make if really irritated or ticked. "They all got what they deserved for being-"

"Weiss, shut up." I say calmly, though I bare my teeth. Fortunately, I had remembered to deactivate the wolfyness, even if a few of the mannerisms seem to be carrying over slightly. I turn and take Blake by the arm. "Blake, let's go do some training." I pause slightly and whirl and jab a finger in Yang's direction just as she opens her mouth. "No." I say firmly.

"But I was just going to-"

"No."

And with that, I enter the Empty dungeon alongside Blake.

"...Suggest that I join you." She mumbles grumpily. Rose and Yang both give Weiss dirty looks, which she pointedly ignores.

* * *

"I hope you aren't expecting me to be grateful for keeping me from giving that bitch a piece of my mind." Blake growls grumpily.

"Eh, only vaguely. I thought you might want to keep from blowing your little cover." I respond, slightly snarkily. She glares at me and lets out a soft huff.

"Why? Why did you have to put them into a coma?"

"I didn't. My aim was to..." I assume a air for a moment. "Wrest their soul from the grasp of Death Itself." I pause dramatically. "I...Only partially succeeded."

"...I see." She hesitates. "Wait, WHAT?"

"I said that I saved a life."

"That's not saving a life! That's... That's..." She splutters. "That's REMAKING a life! That's like saying that you stopped something from breaking when what you did was fix it seconds after it actually broke! The level of difference there is between the two-not to mention the legal ramifications-is HUGE!"

I sigh. "What, are you saying I shouldn't have done it?"

"What? NO!" She splutters indignantly. She sighs.

I reach up and casually swipe her ribbon to try to shift the mood.

There's a brief moment where she freezes.

"Hey! Give that back!" She yelps before turning and pouncing on me.

It isn't much of a contest, and in less than two minutes she's on top of me with her ribbon back in one hand and the other pinning my hands to my chest, but nonetheless, she's grinning a little. She waves the ribbon scoldingly in my face before letting go to retie it...when I surge up to grab for her and she does her shadow dodge away.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

"You never established any rules!" She counters as she finishes.

What followed was a good deal more playful than anything that could be possibly considered 'training'...both the innuendo version and the actual version of 'training', that is.

* * *

One hour later, sweating and grinning like idiots, both me and Blake returned to the dorm. Yang was the only one there(as Weiss had gone off to fume and Ruby...was probably going out for cookies), and she glanced up at us and blinked.

"Oh my god you two actually had sex." She says with a deadpan expression.

"YANG!" We both exclaim, faces bright red.

* * *

Author's Note:

After a week or two of writer's block, 2.1k words isn't terrible, I guess.

No, no actual sex occurred. There are going to be a lot more *jokes* about Hart having sex than actual him having sex, like, ever.

The jury's out on whether Yang actually thinks they had sex or is just yanking their chains as hard as she possibly can. Both is not off the table.


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Note

Just got back from Pennsic, where I wrote this!

Also, _**I NOW HAVE A PAT-REON!**_ Pat-reon dot com/Grubleafeater. Remove the - and change dot to . because FFN is a dick about links and specifically about Pat-reon.

* * *

I sit up in bed staring at the book Ozpin gave me. It IS a skill book, I'll give it that. Unlike some of the magic books, which were also skillbooks but contained various skills inside besides the main skill(something I'd never have realized if I didn't actually read it), I have the feeling this only gives one skill. But it was just...so ridiculous!

Oh, fine. I pop the skillbook.

[Through use of a skillbook, you have obtained the skill (from a book), Crystal Healing Techniques!]

Redundant, much, Death?

[Shut it, you. I reserve the right to be dickish however I damn well want to.]

Ok, ok.

I take a look at the skill.

[Crystal Healing Techniques Level 1

Cost:1000 MP

Requires a jewel

Effects multiplied based on jewel quality

Restores 1000% Int+Wis HP to target

With Dust Crystal;

Restores 1000% Int+Wis AP to target

Gives buff based on Dust type

Casting time of 60 seconds, modified by level]

It kind of sucks, to be honest. Seriously, I recover more than that per minute automatically.

Wait.

*I* recover more than that. Who says my team or civilians do?

Alright, I take it back, it's alright in my book. Bit of a cash sink, though, but if I'm training a Aura sustained skill it might be worth using.

...On to spells.

I pull out one of the other books, the only one which didn't seem to be likely to have any actual extra skills.

My fingers trace the spine of "Pre-Mantle Runics", and I hesitate for a moment when the popup appears.

No. Runes might be a precise science. I couldn't afford to go in with nothing but a level 1 in the skill. I crack open the book and drop into my empty Dungeon. I quickly activate the lights.

...Maybe with runes, I could be strong enough to force the Fang to their knees without killing any of them.

*Who are you kidding? You've always fantasized about making the hard choices.* Whispered a traitorous voice in my head. *Using the dark magics for good. Killing to prevent the deaths of others. What are you? Some kind of pansy? A coward? A hypocrite who says 'he should have just killed him' but then balks at making the same choice?*

...Dammit, isn't this exactly the thing Gamer's Mind is supposed to protect me from? If I have a voice in my head, then-No, that's not a voice,just a little something called self-doubt And no amount of magical bullshit mind-stability boosters are going to protect me from self doubt.

*That's right, bitch. Self doubt is here to stay.*

...Ok, that one might have been my sanity. That, or my self doubt has been busy developing sarcasm.

I'm not sure which is scarier.

In any case, I begin reading. I also crack open a notebook and nab my pen, taking note of any interesting runes.

Soon, I have a short list of dangerous sounding runes. I pause. What would a rune that just said 'Fire' do? Perhaps I ought to go a little into methods of delivery. I scribble down some promising runes- For instance, a rune meaning 'To Emerge' might be able to bring forth a blast of the element in question.

...Never mind what else it might do. I'm sure as long as I don't supply it with all that much power, it wouldn't summon some sort of all-powerful elemental spirit or something, would it?

[Through a action, the skill Cassandraic Prediction has been obtained.]

...Okay, now you're just fucking with me, Death.

[I will neither confirm nor deny that.]

My lips quirk up slightly... but only slightly.

...Maybe it would be good to take notes of some control-related runes. Also... Some utility based ones.

For instance, something to keep them from just going off as soon as they're powered would be nice.

I pick up the runes 'Delay' and 'Charge'. Hopefully all these runes work as I hope. In fact, I glance at the alert I've been ignoring the whole time.

[Through rigorous study, the skill Rune has been obtained.

Rune level 7 42% experience

Cost:Variable

Known Runes:

Fire

Air

Water

Earth

Ice

Darkness

Holy

Magic

Electricity

Emergence

Bolt

Blast

Blade

Shield

Delay

Charge]

Huh. No details? I tap on the first.

[Fire

Adds a element of Fire to the runic script.]

Runic...script?

I move on past all the energy types and on to Emergence.

[Emergence

Summons a powerful force.]

Ominous.

I take a look at Bolt.

[Bolt

Fires a very narrow line of damaging power.

Damage drop-off: Damage x.9/50 feet

Pierce Rate:3.5%*Element Piercing Rate*Elemental Vulnerability]

Huh. Blast?

[Blast

Releases a unfocused burst of damaging power in a roughly conical shape,

Damage drop-off: Damage x.5/20 feet

Pierce:Only on overkill]

Huh. None of this is really going into enough detail. Death, what's going on?

[Greater details are available when you learn higher versions.]

Neat.

I take a quick glance at Delay and Charge

[Delay

The runic set will not trigger until it either overloads or a trigger(set by the creator) is spoken. Either of these conditions results in the entirety of the energy being expended.

Charge

Freely passes energy to other Charge runes until they are all at the same level. Once one Charge rune overloads, it triggers and overloads all other Charge runes adjacent to it, triggering them as well and passing the entirety of the energy in the entire Charge bank to the next rune in the set.

A Charge rune in a active runic script will emit a constant flow of power set at it's creation, allowing for passive runes to be maintained at a set level of effect rather than flaring brightly and waning rapidly.

Capacity:160*stability Power]

Power? What's that?

[Power is a catchall phrase for anything that can power a rune. At the moment, you only have access to two Power sources-Aura and Mana.

Aura is a high-stability, low-density power source. The exact numbers vary based on the person sourcing the Aura.

Mana is the baseline power source. The baseline for both density and stability, 1 mana is always equal to 1 power and power from it has 1 stability.

There are other power sources, but these require their own runes and higher levels in Runes to use.]

Huh. Neat. I pull out the crude dagger I made on my first try and Desert Sting. I use the tip of Sting to carve into the steel of the dagger carefully. After about ten minutes, I have a basic rune carved into it.

[Runic Script created-Delay Charge Blast Fire

Would you like to name this? Names can be changed.]

I decline and crack my knuckles, feeding in about 200 mana.

And... , I feel a sudden rush of power from it, but otherwise nothing. Let's give that another shot.

I switch Blast and Fire, this time using one of my cheap pistols. I feed in another 200 and a blast of fire comes directly out of the last of the runes, singing my hand.

FUCK! Okay, that stings. Okay, now I know the drill, the rune itself is the part that it comes out of, not wherever the fuck I want.

...Saaaay, I can think of a fairly good use for that...

* * *

As it turns out, shields are fairly cheap, about a hundred each. Okay, so none of them were stellar shields, really more big lumps of iron with handles on them, but each is relatively flat.

I quickly scratch a few runic scripts into various shields, basically with a variant of Blast for Fire, Ice, Dark and Holy each. Each one comes with ten Charge runes in a chain.

Okay, so now I have a bunch of shields that are more weapons than actual shields. I kinda want to test them, but I leave that alone for now.

I also happened to raise my Rune skill.. AWESOME! Now that I have a little more skill, that means that the Holy shield has 1700 capacity(multiplied by Stability), though the Darkness one has 1620 capacity because that's the one that it leveled at.

Well, all the better for blasting things with.

I quickly charge them with as much Aura as I can, starting with the Holy shield. I take a glance at the charge after I dump in 3000 aura.

[Charge: 1231

Stability:2.85]

So, quick math... 1700 times 2.85... ALMOST 5000 maximum.

Mind you, Aura was pretty much the WORST for mid-combat charging. Still, I charge it until it hits 4600 charge, reckoning that that's sufficient for me to set it off whenever I please. Mind, I can't really afford to charge more than one shield per bar of aura

...

Wait, what happens if I scuff a Charge rune? I quickly toss the Fire shield across the room and draw my Pistol, firing a full clip downrange. Sure enough, I strike a Charge rune on the second to last shot, causing the shield to...prematurely... detonate. Without my Aura shielding it, the shield itself ends up glowing red from the heat it just emitted, melting the runes enough to make them unusable.

I pause for a moment. "Well, that's one hell of a downside." I muse. Still, Aura should prevent any damage from happening to the runes, right?

But the more runes I draw, the more risk of them being struck or scuffed and causing explosions. At least they're safe in my inventory.

I think that unless I find a material with almost no risk, I should perhaps leave those to myself for now, or defensive Runes only if I find a cheap power method.

Still, Runes didn't seem like a great path to go down right now. I need something a little more immediate, something that's not quite so... lethal, too.

...

I need Summons. Shit. I REALLY need summons.

Summons should grow with my power, after all.

Still, I charge the Ice shield and the re-carved Fire shield with Mana instead, 1500 each, leaving Darkness for Aura and charging that one to 4500. I use Meditation with Cerberus equipped to make sure I fully charge my bars afterwards.

Now I would just need to use those without accidentally blowing up my team. I sigh before de-dungeoning. I managed to waste a entire night on this shit. I was actually kind of amazed by the fact that there were 24-hour weapon stores. Then again, who would dare steal from a weapon shop...?

...

Oh yeah, the White Fang literally robbed Mr. Torgue. Nevermind.

I grab a cup of coffee from my inventory. Not a kettle this time-I know better now. I quaff the whole thing in one go as Yang smells the coffee and practically leaps out of her bed.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" She yells, waking everyone up if they weren't already.

"...What? It's just one cup of coffee. It's not like I'm going to go on some kind of canicidal rampage."

"...Caniwhat?" Ruby looks confused.

"Of or relating to the killing of canines."

"Cawhats?"

"...Wolves or dogs."

"...D-Dogs?" She looks upset and I facepalm.

"It was just wolves, not dogs, okay, Ruby?"

"T-then why would you bring up dogs?" She whispers.

"Because that's what canine means...?" I sigh. "Not because I was going to kill dogs. The last time I drank coffee, I killed a bunch of *hostile* wolves is all."

I pause.

"Anyway, I have made...progress towards something!" I pull out a chunk of wood and carve the symbols Charge and Shield into it. "Here. Someone try to channel Aura into this." I state.

They stare at me blankly.

"What?"

"Hart... Aura manipulation is a very complex technique." Weiss states blankly.

"Huh?"

"None of us can do that, Hart."

"...Oops?" I offer weakly.

* * *

Well, apparently I just...*had* a power, or at least a limited portion of a power that was incredibly advanced. Just... at random?

That's a thing now. That's a very concerning thing, actually. I don't even know the basics of what I should and shouldn't be able to do with my Aura.

I can't help but think of my hundreds of points to assign. It would be so easy to assign them and just get things done. The only thing is...

Well, actually, only *two* things are...

One, it leaves me with a ace in the hole.

Two, I can STILL gain points on my own, even if it's gotten incredibly slow.

But what about my 50-point skills... HNNGH. It's not FAIR.

Also, now that I think about it, I still don't have a Semblance. Is that because of my Aura? Do I need a higher aura level, or just more actual Aura to get it?

Dammit, I just don't know. And it's pissing me off.

Fuck it, I'm going to go ahead and go to Tukson's...

Line

Well, that was...a trial. Still, I left with a large number of books on Aura at a fair discount. 30% off the listed price? I doubted he could do that for all his customers so that probably has to do with that Wizard thing from earlier. He asked me about the magic and I showed him a ice-shield rune as a demonstration. Apparently, Shields had to be made of a element(including magic).

For obvious reasons, Fire was out.

Any of the books that are Skill Books, I use, though only one actually activates. The others all require high Wisdom. Uuuuuugh.

I look at the one skill I got.

[Aura Mastery Level 1 0%

XP gain of Aura increased by 10%

+5% Aura regeneration

+5% Maximum Aura]

That was good enough on it's own. But the last line killed it.

[Gains Experience with meditation and time spent with Aura active]

What. The. Fuck.

Okay, so it's not that broken-but the Aura xp rate gain? Goddammit, this is why I was stuck at level 9 isn't it?

I quickly activate Aura and leave it on,growling under my breath.

Line

Fortunately, I just barely had time to do that before the first class of the day, though my team was glaring at me, probably because I was almost late to Oobleck's class.

Fortunately, Doctor Oobleck seemed to like me for actually taking notes. Sure, he talked at a mile a minute, but I was the type to listen to Khan Academy videos at double speed anyway, so it really didn't stop me from understanding what he said.

Hm. I wonder...

I pull out my scroll when there's a slight lull caused by him drinking some of his coffee and look up brain games, specifically ones related to calculation speed, perception and memory.

Either these things would train my stats, they would have related skills that granted passive boosts, or both. Any way I look at it, they should be a massive asset.

...Or they're made by quacks and they won't do anything, but hopefully that isn't the case.

I resume taking notes the moment he resumes talking, frantically writing to keep up with him. After all, I never took notes on the Khan Academy lectures.

My mind drifts slightly to the first of his lectures-specifically, Cardin's comments on faunus. I DO have a few questions I should ask Blake later...

* * *

Okay, so, class is over and I have time now.

Instead of talk about any of it in front of Weiss(in case she decided to try pulling rank as 'leader' to find out what we were going to talk about), I send Blake a message by scroll.

* * *

Hart:

Hey, Blake. Please meet me on the roof, alone, we need to chat about things. If the roof isn't clear, we move to the Forest.

Blake:

Alright, fine.

* * *

About a hour later, we meet there, and after a glance around we nod at each other and I lightly grab her by a shoulder and disappear into a dungeon.

Unbeknownst to us, Cardin Winchester steps out of the staircase a moment afterwards, looking bewildered and staring at the spot where we disappeared.

* * *

"So...What did you want to talk about?" Blake asked.

"Well, it occured to me that I...am utterly ignorant about Faunus, being from a world without them... So I had a few questions ranging from the random to the possibly offensive." I say as neutrally as I can.

"I...See." She says warily. "Such as?"

"...Do faunus with fur produce allergens?"

"...What kind of allergens?"

"...Have you never heard of someone being allergic to dogs or cats?" I ask in surprise.

"Oh!" Blake blinks. "Yeah, but it only really ever happened in noble families, and almost never happens these days."

I tilt my head at her. "...Would these noble families have insisted on their members only marrying humans?"

"...Yeah?"

I nod my head slightly. I guess Faunus blood prevents you from being allergic to animals. Huh.

"Are there insectoid, arachnid, amphibian, reptillian and aquatic faunus?"

"...Yeah, all of the above." She admittedly looks slightly weirded out by thinking about that.

"What happens if a faunus and a human have kids?"

"There's about a two-thirds chance of them being faunus and a one-third chance of them being human." She responds.

Hmm.

"What determines the type of faunus you are?"

"Your p-parents." Odd stutter... "If they're the same type of faunus, you'll be that type. If you have only one faunus parent, there's a very tiny chance of being a different type of faunus. If you have two different faunus parents, there's a much larger chance. There have been no proven occurences of two humans having a faunus child."

"No... proven?" I ask.

"Well, you can't exactly prove that someone hasn't been cheating, so the assumption whenever a human married to or dating another human has a faunus child is that she slept with a faunus." Blake says. "There are plenty of claims to the contrary, but they've never actually managed to prove any, and you have to admit they would have plenty of motive to lie if they were cheating."

I nod suddenly. "And if a faunus with another faunus had a human child..."

"The assumption would be the same. Well, that, or that they had some sort of hard to spot trait." Blake says.

"Wow, that kinda sucks." I comment. "So in other words, even if humans and faunus can have faunus or human children respectively because of all the intermixing..."

"They would never be able to accept that fact." She nods. "Even in Menagerie, there are still some humans, after all."

"Well... That sucks." I mutter.

"You said that already." Blake comments.

"It bears repeating. I mean, it would be harder for humans to discriminate if two humans could have a faunus child, but even if they CAN, when it does happen they instead assume that the female in the relationship slept with a faunus." I shake my head. "Anyway, are there any faunus with entirely unidentifiable faunus traits?"

"Huh?"

"Like... uh... I don't know, a starfish faunus who can regrow limbs?"

Blake quirks a eyebrow. "That sounds less like a faunus and more like a superhero or someone with a semblance."

"Hey, it takes a long time for starfish to regrow their arms. A semblance would probably take a lot less time."

"Still, I've never heard of something like that. That is a interesting thought, though." She mutters thoughtfully. "...Not that we'd cut off someone's arms to try or anything, so if such faunus exist you'd need to check other factors instead, like their senses."

"Right. Do faunus act on instincts according to what kind of faunus they are, and if so, is this more due to nature or nurture?"

"Yes to the first part, but I don't understand the second part?"

Oh my god, seriously? Does Remnant not have psychology?

"Nature versus nurture is a psychological fallacy from my world. You see, people liked to believe that science was binary-you either had one thing or the others, so they would form hypotheses that *one* thing explained everything in a field. One guy believed that your personality and nature was determined at birth-another believed it was solely based on personality. We have since learned that it is a measure of both-unsurprisingly, really. It can vary how much of each it is depending on the behavior in question."

"Okay, and how would this be determined?" She asks.

"Well, would a canine faunus raised by cat faunus, for instance, behave in a more feline manner when surprised, or a more feline one?"

She places a finger to her lips. "I'm not sure." She says, looking slightly confused.

Hm. I wonder how the theory of the collective unconscious works with faunus and humans.

Then I think about how families might work with instinctive reactions between different kinds of faunus and the whole 'random type' thing. I let out a low whistle.

"...I see. Now, on to less personal topics, how does the SDC's discrimination work?"

Blake blinks since she didn't put it that way when she brought it up, but soldiers on.

"SDC work camps function on a corporate script basis. Technically, faunus and humans are paid the same amount, but they tend to be charged different amounts, which is under the excuse having the prices be based on the time of day and the humans and faunus on different shifts. What is more, their scrip is non-transferrable. It's all issued to a specific person, and re-issued to the same person after they spend it. The prices are such that without taking serious risks of being blown up, a faunus worker can barely hope to get enough scrip to eat a decent amount of food, much less exchange for cash-at the exhorbitant costs they charge when Faunus are off-shift."

I blink.

"That... Is just utterly evil." I say deadpan.

"Unfortunately, more subtle discrimination means that it's often the only way that Faunus can make a living." She says impassively, though her expression makes it clear that she's restraining her voice.

"Well, damn. I...can't think of any more questions right at this moment." I say, shaking my head. "...Thank you." I mumble.

She blinks a few times. "You're...welcome? I don't think I've told you much you couldn't just look up, though."

"This way, I don't leave any search history." I point out. "Anyway, I need to go...do something. Let's head to the dorm to pop back in."

* * *

When we arrive back at the dorm, we hear Jaune seranading Weiss. I pause and glance at Weiss. "Hey, how much would you be willing to pay to make sure he can't play that guitar again?"

"At least 500 lien, and that price is going up and up." She mutters.

"Jaune!" I shout out the door.

"...Yeah?"

"I'd like to buy that guitar off you!"

"What makes you think I'm willing to sell it? How could I seranade her without it?"

I throw Weiss a apologetic look. "But if you sell it, then you'll be able to do things like buy flowers for Weiss, which is frankly altogether more dignified than playing horrible guitar solos!" I reply.

"...Fair point." Jaune mutters as Weiss gives me a dirty look. "How much are you willing to pay?"

"What are you willing to take?"

Jaune hesitates. "450 lien?"

"400." I reply.

"Deal." He says quickly. I open the door and pass him the lien in exchange for the guitar.

"Thank god." Weiss mutters as the door shuts again.

"Alright, so, until I actually get adept with playing this, I'll keep all my practicing quiet." Hell, odds are playing music would buff my Charisma, and boosting my Charisma...uh...

Well, it'd do SOMETHING!

I pull out my scroll and download a quick basic course on guitar before heading into the Dungeon. As soon as I start playing, I get a message.

[Through obtaining and playing a guitar, you have obtained the skill Guitar(Acoustic)

Guitar(Acoustic) level 2 10%

55% note accuracy on guitar

+2% quality of played music

+10% experience gain with string instruments

+2% charisma]

I start playing I Hate Little Firelizards as best i can, wincing and trying to ignore every missed note.

"Oh, I hate, Little fire-lizards, and my dragon hates them too!" I sing proudly.

[Through singing, you have obtained the skill Vocals

Vocals lv 10 75%

81% tone accuracy

+10% quality of voice

+10% charisma]

Unfortunately, offhand I don't remember the rest of the lyrics so I have to switch to another guitar song. I suddenly grin.

I begin playing Threes instead.

"Deep into the stony hills, miles from keep or hold; A troop of guards comes riding with a lady and her gold! Riding in the center shrouded in her cloak of fur; companioned by a maiden and a toothless aged cur..

Three things see no end; A flower blighted ere it blooms; A message that was wasted and a journey that was doomed."

I go on, ignoring every ping I hear. The guitar was awful, but the vocals were decent, and by the end the guitar was at least better.

Apparently it was at level 4, with 64% accuracy. Neat. I decide to practice Threes for now since it's the song I most remember.

Then again, there's also The Sun is Also a Warrior... Still, I can leave that for later.

With the unshakable tenacity, and no small fraction of the immunity to boredom and frustration that all video game characters have, I practice the guitar for several hours..

* * *

Author's Note:

I Hate Little Firelizards and Threes are both songs by Julia Ecklar, one of my favorite filk artists.

The Sun Is Also A Warrior is a song by Leslie Fish, another such filker.


	24. Chapter 24:All About The Money

**Author's Note** : Please remember to leave reviews, they're more meaningful than you might think. I read each and every one of them even if I don't leave review responses, I swear.

* * *

Once I hit 7 guitar, after about a hour of playing, I call it quits. After all, I'll never get to properly leverage my Charisma unless I actually get a group, and a group requires cold, hard cash to fund.

That, or hot, soft ass...ets. I chuckle to myself.

Okay, so think assets. With what Blake said about miners, odds are that simply room and board would go a long way towards creating the secretive organization I had in mind.

Room...

Room could be cheap or expensive depending on how I manage it. Obviously I can't just give everyone individual houses. On the other hand, I could possibly convert a warehouse into a barracks, and borrow a tactic from Rimworld.

Make a bunch of private rooms *exactly* large enough for people to sleep, fuck, and get dressed in. Not a inch bigger or smaller.

Hey, I have a advantage I didn't have in Rimworld-I have the ability to use MULTIPLE STORIES OF BUILDING.

Board, similarly, could also be of varying price depending on whether you hired a cook, ordered in, or just did it yourself. Or I could just get volunteers from the grunts to man the kitchens

I could source my food wholesale, too, for additional savings. Maybe, just maybe, I could feed 20 men on 200 lien a month.

Haha, no, that's a pipe dream. I'm probably looking at more like 600 to feed them, 700 if I account for the level of activity we're going to be putting them through.

Now, if I focused I could net about 1000 lien in profit from a few hours' fighting, but that's nowhere near enough for my goal.

...

Say, I have a simply MASSIVE amount of Wolf Souls...

I hum softly before ringing Qrow.

"Hey, what's up, kid?"

"Nothing much, old man." I smirk slightly. "You still wanna earn some booze money?"

Qrow raises a eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"I've got enough souls to create seven Direwolfs. I'm interested in finding out how tough they are and how much cash they give. I'll split the lien 50-50, and the loot will be need over greed."

"Need over greed?"

"Basically, if it's anything one of us can use, it'll go to whichever actually has more need of it. If neither of us need it, I'll check in with the rest of Saxonburg and see if anyone else can use it. If not, then I'm pawning it off." I say casually.

"That's...reasonable, I guess." He grumbles softly. "Do we split the profit if you pawn something off?"

"Hmmmmm...Yes, but it'll be 70/30, my favor if I haggle a better price than initial offer. You'll find that I have a way with words when I'm not dealing with a ally."

"...70/30 on the difference between initial offer and what they buy it from you for."

"Very well." I grin and nod.

"I'll be there in a hour, kiddo. Don't do anything stupid and challenge one of those Darewolves without me."

"Actually, they're-" *beep*

...

Son of a bitch hung up on me. Bastard.

I hum thoughtfully and pull out a Fire Dust crystal before holding it to my skin.

"Crystal Healing", I say casually. It glows slowly, and at 50 seconds, it's blindingly bright. It suddenly crumbles(along with a ping of a notification) and I check my status, spying a new effect.

[ **Burning Passion**

Lasts 9 minutes and 53 seconds

+20% STR

+10% CHA

+10% DEX

-10% WIS

Negates **Fatigued]**

I glance at the notification.

[ **Crystal Healing Technique** s has reached level 2! Restoration +50%/int+wis, cast time -1 second.]

I smirk slightly. I immediately pull out a Wind Dust crystal and repeat the process. I hear another ping and check my status.

To my surprise, I have one status effect instead of two.

[ **Fanning the Flames**

Degrades to Breath of Air in 8 minutes and 57 seconds

+40% Str

+30% Cha

+40% Dex

-10% Wis

-10% Con

Negates all **Asthma** negatives and **Fatigued]**

...Huhn.

I pull out a Earth crystal, then shrug. Why not?

Another ping from leveling it and 58 seconds later, I pull the new status effect. up.

[ **Stoking the Furnace**

Degrades into Desert Storm in 7 minutes and 49 seconds

+40% STR

+25% CHA

+25% DEX

+30% CON

+5% Wis

Negates **Fatigue, Osteoporosis and Asthma** ]

Wait, so fire got to be all cool 'fueling your body', wind made it impossible to lose your breath, and Stone... made your bones more solid?

...The fuck kind of balance is that?

[Kid, this is real life. Not every option is going to be balanced.]

Fair enough.

It's a shame none of these buffs will actually last long enough to fight any of the Direwolfs without reapplying them. Ah, well, at least he'd managed to just barely scrape level 4.

I look at the full description

[ **Crystal Healing Techniques** Level 4

Cost:1000 MP

Requires a jewel

Effects multiplied based on jewel quality

Restores 1150% Int+Wis HP to target

With Dust Crystal;

Restores 1150% Int+Wis AP to target

Gives buff based on Dust type

Casting time of 57 seconds, modified by level]

Okay, I'll admit that it's looking a bit less useless thanks to those buffs. ESPECIALLY the Wind one.

In fact, maybe I should keep that particular effect constant. It'll keep my max health and health recovery high, meaning my life will be in substantially less peril.

[By forming a intelligent plan, you have increased your Wisdom by one!]

That's the ticket.

When Qrow arrives, I signal him to wait before pulling out the Wind dust again. 57 seconds later it dissolves and flows into me.

"Not so much of a joke after all, huh, kid?" He casually asks.

"It's...more useful than anticipated." I state calmly before getting up, clasping his hand.

"Instant Dimension."

Line

The moment that we're in the dimension, we move to a suitable vantage point.

Right, now, how do I fuse souls?

[Just say **Soul Fusion,** or think it.]

Uh...right. Soul Fusion.

Like that a whole menu opens up, and I select wolf souls. Seeing the only option is to create a Direwolf, I select that option and choose x1.

Suddenly, there's a chill in the air. A hundred motes float from my skin and flow in a random directiion, before slowly swelling and shifting until suddenly there's a elephant sized wolf about 30 yards from us.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

I quickly examine the Direwolf.

 **[Direwolf** level ?

Hp 25000/25000

Ap 1000/1000

Mp 0/0]

"Careful, it has a weak Aura. Who knows what it can do." I say quietly to Qrow who simply shrugs before casually pulling his sword and charging forward.

The Direwolf meets his charge with a swing of it's mighty foreleg, sending Qrow staggering back a little

I pull out the Katars and move in rapidly from the side, holding each katar to the oppossite shoulder before bringing them down in a lethal scissor which earns me a ping the moment it makes contact, cutting a deep line in the Direwolf's side...and showing only fat. A quick Observe confirms my fears.

[Hp 24891/25000

AP 0/1000]

It doesn't even turn to face me, instead lunging for Qrow again as I repeat the new skill, still dealing only minimal damage while Qrow holds the beast off.

After a minute of this, just at about 24000 it turns to deal with me instead, and Qrow swings his blade at it's neck, cutting a deep gouge from which blood flows rapidly.

I Observe as I dive away.

[Hp 22487/25000]

Fucking hell this thing is tough. I snarl to myself as I weigh my options.

One quickly occurs to me.

I glance at the name of my new skill.

"Power Strike Scissor Slice." I speak firmly.

My next Scissor Slive cuts through the fat to begin a entirely new blood faucet, albeit one half as rapid as Qrow's. I give it a quick observe.

[HP 22065/25000]

Dammit, it's not enough!

I shove a katar into it's side and trigger the wind blasts, hearing another ping but ignoring it. Surprisingly, Observe says that each of the shots is dealingg a whopping 492 damaage, and when it turns and swats me away the hole the katar leaves is leaking a thick, chunky soup. I can hear the Direwolf wheeze with every breath.

And then Qrow rushed forward with his scythe and slammed it into the earlier gouge, slicing through flesh, then vein, then bone with equal ease.

The body fades soon after, leaving 4000 lien(i whistle softly), a book, and a seemingly diamond-laid golden ring. I Observe it.

[ **Minor Luckstone**

+7 **Luck** to wearer]

"It's a 'minor luckstone'. Increases Luck by 7."

Qrow blinks.

"I NEED that, kid."

"Figured as much." I toss him it and he puts it on. "Wait, aren't you going to give-"

"Later, kid. For now, don't you have some more assholes for us to fight?"

"Er...right. Gimme a second to buff and heal up."

I cast Crystal Healing with Wind once more, then quaff a energy drink for the caffeine buff. I check my notifications.

[For dealing more than 50% of all damage to a mighty **Direwolf,** you have been awarded the title **Apprentice Wolf Slayer**!

All stats +25% while fighting wolves

All stats +5 while fighting wolves

+25% damage against wolves]

Oh, and I might as well nab the Direwolf Soul. Damn thing cost me 100 wolf shells.

...

It gave me TEN THOUSAND EXPERIENCE?!

I mean, I guess that thing was the size of a fucking elephant, but still.

Next notification!

[Through exploiting a enemy's weakness, you have obtained the passive skill **Deadly Strike**

 **Deadly Strike** level 5

Damage*1.14 when striking a enemy in a vulnerable point

Critical hits against vulnerable points are 9% more likely(additively)

Critical hits against vulnerable points inflict an additional *3.4 damage]

"Apparently, their innards count as a 'vulnerable point'." Comes my lackluster statement.

Time to check Scissor Strike out.

[ **Scissor strike** level 3

Requires dual blades

+31% damage

-10% armor

-10% block chance]

Wait, what's this box in the corner of the screen?

[Through combining skills, you have learned the skill **Junction!**

 **Junction** level 1 5%

Junction up to 2 skills

Save up to 1 skill for future use. Can be wiped for new spots]

Just...wow.

"Anyway, five...four...three... two... one." I summon another Direwolf.

This one goes down a bit easier when I use my Junctioned **Power Scissors**. Admittedly, it's probably mostly my massive bonuses from my new Title, but nevertheless.

This time, they drop 3000 lien, no book, and a necklace. I observe it.

[ **Direwolf-fur Choker**

+40% STR

+16 STR

+15% Wis]

"Yeah, I'm calling this one. Massive Strength buffs and a touch of Wisdom. It'll even fit underneath my wolf tooth necklace." I fasten it around my neck, groaning softly at the sudden surge of power.

The next Direwolf goes down even easier than the second, though I make no mistake-If Qrow wasn't here, they could probably still kick my ass. This time, instead of a piece of jewelry, i get a pile of Direwolf teeth and 5000 lien.

Direwolf No. 4, on the other hand, seems at first to drop naught but 1000 lien, to my diappointment, but I spot a shiny shard near the lien and on a whim, Observe it.

[ **Minute Summoning Fragment _-Strength_**

In combination with summon fragments for Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and optionally Charisma and Luck, creates a **summon.**

Summons created by this fragment have 1 strength.

Up to 10 fragments of the same type can be fused, adding their strength together.

Summons can consume fragments for small amounts of stat gain]

...

"I just found one of the worst pieces of junk loot ever. If I find ten of these, i'll be able to give a summon AVERAGE strength." I growl to myself. I kick the ground before going through the other three Direwolfs.

All in all, we net another 10000 lien, bringing us to 24000 lien total, and another book, a full Direwolf hide(I'm so keeping that, buying out Qrow's share in that) and a few Direwolf bones. All in all, not bad.

...What are those books, anyway?

...The Complete Twilight Saga? FUCK YOU, DEATH.

Aaaaand the other book is about tracking by scent. Sure, why not? I pop it.

[ **Bloodhound's Nose** lv 1 1% EXP

Scent intensity x3

Scent identification: 10% accuracy

+30% Wis while active]

Oh, oh god. I smell every bit of the air that enters my nose. This was a terrible mistake. I quickly turn it off, taking a nice, deep, scent-free breath before passing Qrow his cut of the loot, which, after I buy him out on the body parts, comes to 14000 lien.

"Make sure not to spend it all on booze, Qrow." I say in parting. "Maybe pick something nice up for Ruby and Yang, y'know? Even a quarter of that should keep you in drinking money for a month."

He hesitates, a flicker of...something... in his eyes. "...I'll do that. Thanks, kid."

We part ways as I puzzle over what to do with the hide and teeth. Hmmmmmmm. The fangs from the pile are practically the size of my forearm, and at least half as thick as Jan Valentine's dick(so you'll need a anti-tank rifle to pierce them)

Lewd referential humor aside, I decide to make them into shortswords or long knives, and the duller teeth into handles for other blades.

That settled, the single hide I'd gotten would be enough to put at least three people into incredibly thick leather armor. HOW THICK IS IT?

Wait, I already made that reference a minute ago.

Anyway, I decide to bring that to a tannery-specifically, the same as before. I go as Death's Courier

The massive hide raises the tanner's eyebrow, but they have no problems with tanning it for a good 200 lien. Considering the size of the hide, that *almost* seems like a fair price. I haggle for a bit.

"Alright, alright, I'll tan it for 150." Grumbles the tanner. "Just a heads up, this is big enough that I can't guarantee it'll entirely tan right. No money back, understood?"

I nod reluctantly.

"Come back in a few days and we'll see how it's gone, alright?" The tanner pauses. "This is a very good hide, if I might say. If you happen to know where to get more of these, I might be interested in taking some off your hands, friend." He stubs out a cigar casually. "Very interested. Many a hunder would give their eyeteeth for armor that's both effective and won't restrict their movement, and if this tans right... the hide is still flexible in spite of the thickness, so maybe the leather will flex well too." He lights another casually. "Oh, sure, kids these days show little real interest in armor, but at the end of the day a nice thick leather suit makes the difference between weathering a hail of White Fang bullets with half your aura left and none of it at all, capiche?"

I nod my understanding. "I'm afraid that I may need many of them for my own purposes, but I'll see what I can sell you."

He inhales deeply from his cigar. "Pity that, but I understand. You're that fellow from the news, right?" He cocks his head. "I'll tell you right now, that move took brass balls. Y'know, that kid you healed is still in the hospital, in a coma, waiting to be interrogated?" He puffs lightly. "What's your angle? I must say I'm mighty curious.?"

I grin, showing off my wolf teeth a little. "The Fang are giving all of us a bad name." I say casually. "What is more, currently they're nothing more than a bunch of murdering assholes and those too weak to stop hanging out with murderous assholes. There are better ways to obtain our rights. Ones that will leave us respected, not feared. Loved, not loathed. Not hated, but welcomed with cheers and celebrations." I grin slightly ironically. "Maybe that last part is a bit much to expect out in Atlas, but still."

I casually turn on Bloodhound's Nose and inhale. Besides the acrid scent of the tannery, I can smell that the tanner's some sort of Faunus, though it's muddled as to what.

"Tell me, brother. If we're willing to fight for our rights, why not fight to be the heroes rather than the monsters? They say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend." I grin. "And in the end, all Faunus, and all of Humanity must call the Grimm their eternal foe."

As I have spoken, the shopkeep's eyes have gotten wider and wider. But at the end, they narrow in disappointment. "What's the use? You can only be a Huntsman if you start young."

"Who said anything about being a Huntsman? I'm starting a new group. One to support, if not supplant the Huntsmen. Friend, I've been to a Huntsman academy. They're soft on them. Now, I don't blame them. After all, they're training children and teenagers." I pause. "Well, the Twin Suns will not have that problem, because we'll only accept adults. We will set a brutal pace of training, but at the end of it each member of the Suns will be a certified badass."

His eyes have lit back up. "Yes... I can see it now. When they see a force comprised entirely of us..."

"Now hold it right there, my friend. Who said the Suns would be open only to Faunus? Surely there are adult humans who have lost much to Grimm or Fang. I would not dream of denying them a chance at revenge or protecting others from a similar fate. While we will mainly recruit fellow Faunus, we will accept human applicants."

"...I suppose that makes sense." Says the shopkeep. "I'll spread the word to my friends, see if I can drum up any interest for when you're ready to start this. I'll even give you a nice discount on things, eh?"

[You have obtained 1x **Supplier** : **Rojo's Tannery**!

By successfully talking someone into becoming a **Supplier** , your **Charisma** has increased by 2!

Suppliers are companies that will offer your faction hefty discounts, potentially down to at cost. In addition, Suppliers can increase the Fame(or infamy, with criminal Suppliers) of your faction.

 **Rojo's Tannery** :

-20% cost of unworked leather

-10% cost of leather goods(stacks with suppliers that craft finished product)

Will buy hides for 60% value]

"Thanks, friend. I'll come back to you when we're set up and need armor, or if I get more hides before then. For now, could you put the word out that I'm looking for some sort of small to medium sized warehouse that I have full permission to remodel into a barracks in part or full?

He nods. "I'll see what I can do. I should warn you that anything that turns up cheap will likely either be in extreme disrepair or in a bad neighborhood, if not both."

"Thanks for the heads up." I smile warmly. "Let me know when you catch a lead." I pass him a note with DC's number on it. "All inbound calls go straight to voicemail on that number because of goddamn telemarketers, but I'll return any voicemails ASAP."

He nods.

I wave goodbye before heading away.

Now, how could I make the cash to actually fund Twin Suns?

Ah, yes.

Time for the old Fallout New Vegas standby for a high luck character.

Time to play some god-damned cardgames.

* * *

"Let's settle the conditional modifiers... It's Tuesday of October, the 13th."

Now, some of you may have immediately taken alarm at the term " _conditional modifiers_ ". Yep, that's right.

"That means that every seventh hand we reverse dealing."

Don't worry, folks. I'm facing north.

"Everything else, we'll make you track yourselves. Remember, conditional modifiers are up to you to track."

Let's see... we're within 7 miles of a body of water, unicorns are wild...

Oh, yes, I'm sure some of you unfortunates have never read Myth Adventures. Dragon Poker is the most insanely complicated game to EVER exist.

Yes, it even beats out Chartmaster, because the FUCKING RULES CONSTANTLY CHANGE ON YOU.

Anyway, we have a paved road...nobody's late, so the cards reverse every 5 rounds... No recent election... The world is technically in constant motion, so we all are, but I'll save that line for when it benefits me...

I take a drink of my bourbon as I'm dealt the first set of the hand.

This is gonna be *fun.*

* * *

About one and a half hours later, I leave with another 7500 in Lien. Not quite the haul I'd hoped for, but it was a start. I also managed to reap an additional 5 luck and 3 charisma from the bluffing, a couple of levels in Bait And Switch and more besides.

I feel kind of bad for the loser, though. Poor Tiffany. He used to be called Mercury, apparently.

 **-Cinder's POV-**

"I don't understand how I could possibly have lost! I've NEVER lost a game of Dragon Poker before!" Ranted the assassin.

"Wait..." Emerald said. "You LOST a game of Dragon Poker?" She blinks before slowly grinning. "So, what did they name you?"

"...Tiffany..."

"Tiffany WHAT?" She says with a wide smirk as I stifle a smile.

"...T-Tiffany..." He repeats with a strained expression. "P-Peacock."

Emerald bursts into laughter as Tiffany punches a wall. I bite down on a snort.

Instead of snorting in front of my subordinates, I walk to my room, bury my face in a pillow, and laugh uncontrollably, out of earshot of the two. Oh my god, that was GREAT! Fucking... Tiffany... Peacock.

It was a shame I had to put on this mask, really. I had to seem unapproachable by all for when our little...group... won. Wouldn't do to have uppity subordinates thinking they can FLIRT with me. Ugh. If I wanted to fuck you, I would approach YOU.

* * *

So, anyway, I need to make more money, dammit. Let's see... Why not head into the Emerald Forest again and look for some grimm?

Dammit, making a semi-secret group was so fucking costly. Maybe that's why people didn't do it all the time, or they had secret backers.

Well, off to do some farming and try to find some new Dungeons from Grimm, aye?


	25. Chapter 25:Intermission

Chapter 25:Intermisson

Author's Note:Figured I'd play around with some other POVs for a little while. I'm sure there's absolutely nothing important anywhere in this chapter.

Seriously, just click to go to chapter 26(if it's out.) It's not like you'll miss any plot points that'll ever become relevant or anything, right?

…No? Okay…

* * *

Dear Diary-August 23rd (year unnoted)

Salutations! My name is Penny Polendina. One of the guards that helps keep this place safe suggested I start writing a diary and gave me some basic guidelines on how to do it.

The General said I need to be combat ready by the Festival, but that otherwise I should get used to spending time out in public. So today I went to a bookstore, but I must admit nothing there particularly interested me. My escort says that tomorrow he'll take me somewhere a little more fun. I can hardly wait!

* * *

Dear Diary-August 25th

Salutations! Mr. Clem brought me to a game shop today. It was actually kind of fun, but I don't know ll ever says that tomorrow he'll take me somewhere a little more fun. I can hardly wait!

Which is rather odd, actually, I would think that the last legend wouldn't have any sequels? Regardless, Clem very enthusiastically recommended it, and so I decided to check it out.

Dear Diary-August 28th

Salutations! I finally beat Last Legend 7. While not quite as good as Mr Clem said, it was still quite sensational. I've stayed up for the last 60 hours in order to beat it and I'm feeling a bit funny...

* * *

((Author's Note: The dots represents the pen sliding on the paper because there's no other real good way to represent that...

The following entry is in shaky handwriting.))

* * *

Dear Diary August 29th

Cold…so cold. The last thing I remember before that cold was writing in my diary, and then…..nothing. Not nothing as in I remember nothing but…. Literally remembering ***nothing***.

Miss Blanc says that most humans start to see things after a short time without sight or sound.

While I was in that nothing, I… I couldn't see anything. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't even feel where my body was.

I heard Doctor Blanc arguing with the General today, saying that until she could figure out the issue that caused me to stay conscious during my shutdown that she could not possibly continue working on creating more androids like me.

I….I'm scared. Is that going to happen to me again? What exactly happened?

I'm still so cold. This body isn't made with any facilities for sensing temperatures, but I know instinctively that this is what cold feels like despite that.

I…I don't want to go back to that Void.

…The whole time I was there, I only actually felt one sensation I could describe as being genuinely, guaranteed a hundred percent real.

Something *reached for me*. Touched me. Recoiled, and then dismissed me out of hand.

When I mentioned this to Clem he mumbled something about 'not going towards the light' or something.

…

According to my clock, it's been about 12 hours since I shut down. Apparently, I forgot to recharge myself. While since I wasn't in combat, I shouldn't have run down within 60 hours, there was also a small short circuit in my body.

I… I just want to feel warm.

* * *

Doctor Elaine Blanc's Records

August 29th

Penny's black box indicates a large amount of semblance use during what I have, for lack of a better term, deemed her 'blackout phase'.

What is unusual is that her semblance has always been on, and up until now we had assumed it was a fully passive one. It doesn't seem that her semblance has any connection to her Aura level.

The question is, what happened to her to make her NEED to use her semblance more when she blacked out?

I went over some of what we colloquially call the 'Dumb Pennies'-The first attempts at the android that didn't quite work out. Apparently, a few of them also exhibit a passive semblance. Don't know how we skimmed over that, but perhaps we can do something with that?

My personal theory is that Penny's semblance is responsible for her state of consciousness, while the other androids are simply echoing the personality of whoever's Aura was used for the first sparks of their life. Their semblances not matching is because personality shifts over time, while semblances rarely actually change. Develop, yes, but only in cases of severe mental illness have they ever changed. This would also explain why, unlike Penny, the rest of the androids are incapable of recovering Aura.

If my theory's right, we had best hope that Penny is not mentally imbalanced by her experiences last night.

Oh, hey, I rhymed!

Anyway, we will have to wait for the return of Doctor Polendina for any further analyses.


	26. Chapter 26

I grapple swiftly from tree to tree, scanning the forest for anything that could be dangerous enough to merit a dungeon after I killed it. After all, while Wolves and Zombies gave alright stuff, it just wasn't enough. And Birds….

I knew enough about Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds to know why not to go after lethal birds. There's a reason why it's called a murder of crows….

…

Speaking of horror and birds, I just remembered why they're called Nevermores. Quoth the raven, 'nevermore'.

…

Wait a second. Monty Oum….Montressor….Amontillado….

Nah, probably just a coincidence.

[Quest Obtained:For The Love of God, Monty Oum, AKA The Cask of Amontylladoum]

DEATH, WHY. WHY DID YOU WAIT UNTIL I DISMISSED IT.

I examine the quest.

[For The Love of God, Monty Oum

Objective 1:Find ?

Objective 2a:?

Objective 2b:Consume ?'s soul.

Rewards:(a)+10000 reputation with ?, ? reputation with Ozpin, ?

Rewards(b):+5000 experience, x6 maximum MP, title Cherry Popper, -reputation with Ozpin, death of ?, ?

Failure:Possible death, increased Grimm Threat, probable death of Pyrrha Nikos, guaranteed death of Headmaster Ozpin, guaranteed death of ?, possible death of Ruby Rose, possible death of Weiss Schnee, probable death of Yang Xiao Long, possible death of Blake Belladonna, possible death of Jaune Arc, possible death of Lie Ren, possible death of Nora Valkyrie, possible death of Cardin Winchester, possible death of Velvet Scarlatina…

Note from your friendly neighborhood Death Master:Possible/probable death doesn't preclude non-death bad things happening to them. I just don't really care.]

It went on for several dozen pages. It listed all the rookie Huntsmen first, then I'm pretty sure it went on to list civilians. I had to skip ahead to the end to see the note.

…

What the hell? So if I don't find this person and do something afterwards or else eat their soul, pretty much everyone in Vale is at risk? This is absurd! What the fuck's so important about this?

…

Wait, those have twelve question marks. Any relation to TQM?

[Nope. Just baiting you.]

Oy, fuck off!

[Nope!]

Distracted by the quest, I almost miss the bunny Grimm. I have a feeling I know, but just to make sure….

Observe.

[Caerbannog level 150

2000/2000 hp

1000/1000 mp

0 AP]

…...Motherfucker. I would be a terrible person if I let this monstrosity run free.

….Well, it's not a hand grenade, but it'll have to do. I pull out the Holy shield and drop shieldfirst towards it. As it reacts to my fall, I cry out, "Holy Blast!"

….What? It's simple.

The holy energy erupts from the face of the shield, eradicating part of the bunny's body, mostly the front legs since it had leapt for me. The rest of it was thrown back. It tried to leap for me feebly as I pulled out my pistol and sent ten bullets downrange at it, finishing it off.

I casually walk forward and take it's soul.

[Boss soul:+7500 experience

Dungeon Unlocked:Bunny]

…That's a thing?

…What the fuck could I get from a dungeon full of rabbits? Anyway, I guess I should start butchering things I find in dungeons. Maybe I can learn some kinda insta-butcher skill?

Oh, hey, the Caerbannog left behind one of it's hindlegs. I snag it and add it to my pouch.

Sweet, a extra 20% luck to the fetish pouch!

I also find 500 lien and 20 Caerbullets(which appear to be vorpal-bunny-tooth-bullets. I'll look at them later.)

I'm forced to assume that the reason that the Caerbannog was level 150 was because if it hadn't been caught off guard, it would have killed me ruthlessly, just like in Holy Grail.

….Poor Ruth. Nobody ever does anything with Ruth. So whelming.

Oh, hey, a cave with a picture of a Deathstalker! I'm sure there couldn't possibly be a Deathstalker inside!

* * *

Jaune sneezes, and randomly feels indignant about something.

* * *

Meh, might as well check the bullets before I enter.

[Caerbullet

+10000% armor piercing.(Does not apply to aura)

+566% damage to Knights of the Round Table.

Inflict Darkness damage.]

….This is either incredibly great or incredibly useless, depending on whether robots count as armor rather than having HP, since these are handgun bullets. Unless I actually meet a Knight of the Round Table, I'm pretty sure it's otherwise useless against people. Handguns don't do shit to Aura.

….Though someone without aura…. I wince slightly. Any bullet would kill someone like that.

Anyway, I step slowly into the cave, switching to my katars.

I hear a clatter near me and swiftly turn, firing off several wind bolts at the previously hard to see Deathstalker. All but one go astray, but that one happens to slam into it's stinger, keeping it from landing a hit.

Oh god, I just realized I never actually properly fought a Deathstalker. And I suddenly have a feeling there's a good reason not to fight them properly. Like the fact that they're fucking huge. I duck to the side as it lashes out with a claw, trying to grab me and hold me still. LIKE HELL!

I switch from Katars to Cerberus, feeling that Screech was more likely to get me killed by calling more Grimm to me than actually help me kill this Deathstalker.

….

Fuck it, I can always heal up in the Empty Dungeon if this cool idea I have fails badly. I grapple the wall past the Deathstalker and trigger the retraction, getting rapidly accelerated up to 50 MPH by the time I reach the Deathstalker.

"GREYHART KICK!" I slam my foot into the tail while channeling Aura athrough it.

….What? I'm not Captain Falcon, so I can't Falcon Kick. So instead i'm Greyhart Kicking. Sounded a lot better in my head, though.

[Skill learned:Aura Channeling level 1

Aura consumption:Variable/minute

+1% to unarmed damage per 100 Aura expended per minute

Max +10% unarmed damage

+.5% to armed damage per 200 aura expended per minute

Max +5% armed damage

Skill learned:Dynamic Entry level 1

+100% melee damage when traveling laterallly at speeds above 20 miles per hour, compared to frame of reference of target.]

….i really need to stop letting these text boxes distract me. I barely duck out of the way of the stinger again before letting go of the handle of Cerberus.

The grapple-gun slams forward, pinning and crushing the stinger to the wall. The Deathstalker struggles for a minute before suddenly giving up, and just….just looking at me. Unblinkingly.

I Observe it on impulse, then demand more details.

[Deathstalker level 70

24000/25000 hp

0/? Mp

0/0 ap

Status:Pinned, Submissive, Supplicating, Murderous.]

….Huh. Last was curious. Anyway, I don't really give a fuck if this guy wants me to spare him. He's a fucking Grimm.

I pull out my handguns.

I could use some target practice anyway. I take aim for the biggest eye and see the Grimm snap all it's eyes shut immediately in response, as if it understood what I was about to do.

…

Can I do this? Shoot out each of it's eyes, then kill it if that didn't? Sure, it's a homicidal monster, but….maybe that crosses a line.

Well, I can't leave it with Cerberus, so I still have to kill it. I switch over to Desert Sting and move closer, jamming it between the gaps in the Stalker's chitin over and over until it goes limp from the paralytic venom, then impale it full force.

"Just….fucking die!" I growl quietly when that doesn't kill it. I wriggle my fingers under one of the chitin plates and pull savagely.

I hear a ding as it's ripped off.

[You have learned the skill Rip Armor

Rip Armor level 1 10%

Cost:100 MP

Reduces armor value by 5% of strength.

Inflicts 100% strength damage when ripping armor that is part of the target's body.]

I repeatedly rip and tear off armor plates (getting a skill up, 6% str to armor and 120% damage) before pulling out the handgun and firing it repeatedly into the gap I'd created.

By the time I finished off the deathstalker, another had clittered towards me from deeper in the cave. "Fuck." I growl, nabbing the soul(+3000 exp) and grabbing Cerberus off the wall before readying myself. Specifically, by swapping back to Desert Sting.

"Good thing you can't take what you dish out…" I mumble as I begin poking tiny holes in the Grimm with the spear, dancing out of range whenever it attacks back. It gets more and more sluggish each time the spear's tip touches it until it simply collapses. Not wanting to take any chances, I stab it a few more times before beginning to rip off it's armor plating. This time, instead of using the pistol point blank when I'd basically already exposed it, I switched to the katars, dicing the scorpion Grimm into teeny bits…..well, smaller bits. I did cut off a claw.

I grab it's soul for another +3000 and then turn to address the loot..

…...Seriously?

I pick up the little steel pendant with a questioning look. It…. it was all too familiar. A yellow glass(or is that actually a gem?) setting on it in the symbol of Scorpio.

I'll look at it later. I collect the vials of Venom that dropped and a nice hunk of Deathstalker Chitin. I'm sure I can do something with this…. Perhaps a lightweight shield or suit of armor? I'll probably need quite a few plates of the stuff before I can actually make anything of it.

I wander further into the cave slowly, switching back to the Katars. Power Scissor is kind of nice, admittedly, and besides, even if it draws attention, maybe Screech wouldn't be too bad.

….

Yeah, I know. I'm fucking indecisive. Bite me.

I scan the cave as I walk, looking for any signs of gems or metals in the walls. Unfortunately, I have pretty much no idea what I'm looking for besides shinies, so I don't see anything.

And then I walk into the spiderweb.

When I say 'spiderweb', I'm not talking about your ordinary spiderweb. I'm not even talking about stings the size of my fingers. I'm deep in some DELTORA level shit(...Deltora totally had a giant spider in it, right? FUCK WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT THIS) here. The strand of web I had touched was about as thick as the widest part of a baseball bat, and clung like hell.

Okay. Calm down. Don't move. Slow your brea-no, don't breathe.

I hold my breath and call a Wind crystal into my hand, curling my fist tight around it to muffle the light. My vision begins to swim just as it finishes, and all urgency regarding breathing leaves me. Right. I have nine minutes now to figure out how to escape this web. I would Instant Dungeon, except I think this web counts as a structure-in other words, I'll still be stuck, just in another dimension.

…

Okay, I'm sure this is stupid. I know that something poisonous isn't necessarily corrosive. Similarly, something venomous isn't necessarily poisonous to eat.

On the other hand. Remnant is anime land. Their rules are not our rules.

With the hand that didn't get caught, I call a bottle of Deathstalker venom to hand. I uncork it painstakingly with my teeth and carefully dribble a bit on two bits of web near the part that captured my other arm.

*pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework*

[By staying calm in a bad situation and enacting a cunning solution, you have increased your Wisdom by 5!]

Five? Christ, it wasn't THAT cunning.

Nonetheless, I am now free of the web, so I take a moment to breathe. Was Daddy Longlegs out? Or maybe it's Momma Widow. I shouldn't assume the spider's gender or anything.

….I don't trust this. I pull out Desert Sting, quickly tip a arrow with Fire, and silently fire it at a point where web and walll meet. It shatters noisily, and seconds before the fire erupts a smallish creature skitters towards it and is blasted away.

I examine it with Observe, of course.

[Baby Arachne]

…Dear lord.

Wait, I thought Grimm don't come with reproduction?

[Do you WANT me to use scientific names for all the grimm you encounter? Because I swear to Me, I can and will!]

All hail Death the great and wise!

{Hehehe… _*hail*_ }

* * *

Meanwhile, far away, that is to say, inside Vale, people look up at the sky that has mysteriously filled with clouds. Everyone runs inside as egg sized balls of hail fall from the sky, except a single pink haired girl, whose umbrella seems to effortlessly repel the hail.

She scowls slightly. Was the Winter Maiden in Vale? That could effect their plans. Still, she wouldn't tell Cinder her suspicions. She'd have to encourage Roman not to do the same. After all, just because some of their desires coincided, doesn't mean that they're her loyal servants.

…

Oh, hey! Her favorite ice cream store is still open!

* * *

...What's so funny about hailing Death, Chaos?

{You'd have to be here. And there. And there. And there….}

I get it, you're omnipresent. Jeez, if you're not going to explain the joke, why bother mentioning it?

{Why, so I can enjoy myself at your expense!}

….It's kind of disturbing how similar we are.

{Are you kidding me? We're not similar. I just act like you a portion of the time.}

...That's...Reassuring?

Alright, so I gotta find Mammarachne, beat the shit out of her, and then I'll get a spider dungeon.

Spider dungeon means spider silk to loot.

Spider silk means spider silk clothing.

My mind toys with the idea of convincing my teammates to wear spider-silk negligee before I shut down the idea ruthlessly. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, naughty thoughts.

…especially thinking about Ruby. She isn't even old enough to be age of consent back home! The others are, not that you'd think it. Thanks, southern californian writers for convincing everyone the age of consent in the US is 18 while it actually varies by state.

A very real(and very traitorous) part of me wants to look up the law on that here, though.

Bad thoughts! Look, if I so much as give Ruby a ogle, odds are her sister would clean my clock.

…..

Wow, I really could have chosen my words better.

I shake myself out of my reverie and move forward.

{Hehehe….}

What?

{Nothing~}

It's less convincing when you add the tilde at the end.

{I know~}

….Fuck you, Chaos.

* * *

Each time I came across a Arachne(thankfully, the oldest arachne was a Juvenile, four times the size of a Baby and twice that of a Childish) I silently killed it with a swift barrage of wind bullets or a Power Scissor to the back.

And then I came into a cavern, my false-Faunus eyes letting me clearly see exactly what was in it….

….Speaking of which, why is this in color? That's absolute horseshit, darkvision equals colorblindness at the very least. Fucking not-quite-anime logic.

Anyway, I saw the exact reason why Chaos had been laughing.

Arachnes might not have the same level of exoskeleton as a Deathstalker, but what I hadn't noticed was they had a stinger, and seemingly vestigial pincers.

Mamarachne's weren't vestigial.

"Fuck… Scorpions are arachnids, too!" I hiss under my breath.

I grab Desert Sting and untipped arrows from my inventory, quickly fitting Gravity crystals onto each. The last one, however, I fit with Fire.

You see, the cavern, like the tunnel before, was crisscrossed with lines everywhere in what can only be described as a fucking Danger Room.

I fit the Fire-Dust Arrow onto Desert Sting and squint. Do I arch high and try to pin Mamarachne to the ground? Or do I arch low and aim to keep them off it? Each web is nearly as thick around as I am, except more rounded, like massive pillars, except they're made of spider silk.

"...Fuck it." I sigh and arch it low. "Not taking the risk."

I fumble eight Caerbullets into a handgun. I could really use a accuracy boosting skill.

…Just maybe.

"I do not aim with my gun. He who aims with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye." I take a breath, lifting the gun at Mamarachne, who's busy fighting the fire as best she can. "I do not shoot with my hand. He who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind." I pause, unsure if I said that part right as Mamarachne notices me, turning towards me. "I do not kill with my gun. He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father."

I take a breath.

"I kill with my heart."

I trigger Aura without glancing at the ping I just got. Without another word or breath, I fire eight shots.

The first, third, fourth and seventh meet their respective marks. Gore bursts from Mamarachne's eyes as her exoskeleton takes the rest of the shots….and gives, perforated by the Vorpal Bunny's teeth.

And then I realize my mistake. The showers of Grimm-blood do not seem to impede Mamarachne(or, more properly, Queen Arachne). What is more, they seem to have done a excellent job of quenching the flame.

"Instant dungeon, empty!" I yell.

[Error:You cannot use that skill while you have angered a Real Dungeon Boss.]

…

Ohhhhhh, fuck me...


	27. Chapter 27

As I ran, many thoughts were racing through my head.

"Holy shit, that thing's wider than most train cars are long" was one.

"It was at that moment that Greyhart knew, he fucked up." was another

"Where's that music coming from?" was yet another.

[You unlocked Background Music by being involved in a chase scene.]

Explains the Benny Hill.

I summon my scroll frantically into my hand and call Weiss.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" She yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN OUT FOR ALMOST A WHOLE DAY, BLAKE'S MISSING, AND WE HAVE CLASSES IN THE MORNING!" Huh, I must have muted the scroll.

"AT THE MOMENT, I'M BEING CHASED BY A FUCKING ARACHNE!"

"What, is that all?" She asks. "I thought it'd be something dangerous!"

"YEAH AND I COULD REAAAAALLY USE SOME ADVICE ON KILLING IT!"

"Just kick it over. The stinger mostly unbalances them."

"Are we talking about the same fucking grimm here?"

"Why do you ask?"

"BECAUSE THIS THING IS THE SIZE OF A FUCKING TRAIN!"

"...What."

"YEAH!"

"That's... That's bullshit, there are always a few small fry lying around after they kill a Queen Arachne, but Queens themselves are incredibly rare!"

"I DON'T CARE HOW BULLSHIT IT IS! I JUST NEED HELP KILLING IT!"

"Why don't you try teleporting out of there and we can tell Ozpin to suit up a full Arachne Extermination team? A few crates of Fire Dust will usually cripple them."

"Ohhh, yeah, why didn't I think of I FUCKING TRIED THAT! MY REALITY WARPING POWER DOESN'T WORK DOWN HERE!"

"...Ah. Huh. Uhhhhh..."

Yang snatches the phone, er, scroll from Weiss.

"Hang on, I'm calling Qrow."

Soon, Qrow picks up and I can hear him over Weiss's phone. Er, scroll.

"Hey, what's up." He says uninterestedly.

"Our, uh, adventurous teammate managed to stumble on a Queen Arachne."

"What? Where?!"

"Good point. Hart?"

"I'm in a cave with a FUCKING scorpion drawn near the outside."

"Did you stop to consider-"

"That a cave with a scorpion drawn on it might contain a giant monstrous scorpion? Yes."

* * *

Jaune sneezes again. Man, today really isn't his day.

* * *

"Anyway, what I wasn't expecting was a even BIGGER spider-scorpion." I'm still, of course, busy running. Thank Death(all hail) I torched the webs on my way in, and that they hadn't been replaced.

"...Did you try pouring alcohol on it?"

Ruby chimes in. "Ooh! Ooh! You mean like how a scorpion stings itself if you pour alcohol on it?"

"...Nah, I just find that if I pour alcohol on my problems, they feel less problematic." He responds sarcastically.

"Oh, so that's why we found your rent notice covered in vodka the last time we visited." Yang ribs back.

"Uh...I don't actually have any alcohol on me."

"Oh. Well. You're kinda fucked then. Try to not die and I'll try to meet you at the cave entrance with a few reinforcements, no guarantees though."

"Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks." I respond sarcastically.

"Oh, and kid? Don't even try to kill it. You don't have anything that can reliably hurt it, and anything you do is just liable to piss it off further. Maybe if you run without seriously hurting it-"

"I shot out four of her eyes and made four more gaping holes in that general region."

There was a pause and some muffled choking sounds from Weiss and Ruby.

"Please tell me you didn't actually stab it for the others. You only shot at it, right kid?"

"Yup."

"Oh, thank god. You're not suicidal, just sanity impaired. Kid, that Queen-"

"I prefer the term Mamarachne." I say idly as I duck under a web that I missed.

"Ooh, nice, I'm keeping that. Anyway, Mamarachne is probably REAAAAAAAALLY pissed. Don't stop running. Don't lead it towards Beacon or Vale. I'll get someone to pull in a Bullhead while we prepare. A few hundred bullets should do a decent job of distracting it."

"...Thanks, Qrow."

"No sweat, Gru, Grust..." He struggles a bit with laughter before settling on "Greyhart."

Okay, gotta run. Gotta stay alive, too. Two high priorities. I pull out my Katars, flipping around for a bit. I walk backwards while unloading wind bolts into Mamarachne, aiming for the eye region again. There are some roars of genuine pain when the bolts hit the injuries, and eyes squeezed shut, but it looks like the bolts are too weak to inflict any real damage to Mamarachne's eyes.

Nonetheless, she's stopped trying to move forward, and each bolt pushes her back by half a millimeter or so. The moment my MP is exhausted, I start running again, whipping out one of my energy drinks.

"Equip Title:Caffiend."

I quaff the whole drink before whirling around and once again unleashing the storm of windbolts upon Mamarachne.

I only have 19 more of these, and by GOD that had better be enough to guarantee my escape. I pop out my Fire Shield and dump some Aura into it before quaffing the next one a ways away.

Soon enough, I've settled into a perilous pattern. Run, retrieve energy drink, whirl, shield up, quaff, dump Aura, switch to Katars, unload and slowly back up. Each time, I recoup 20 precious feet of space.

And between each, I cover about 500 feet and rising based on how many drinks I've had. Nonetheless, Mamarachne is hot on my heels.

I find myself fervently wishing I'd thought to use some of my Dust Crystals to buff myself more. Something to make me faster...

...

Faster...

Like my Wing Boots!

"Equip...Wing... Boots!" I gasp out as I run, and find myself zipping away just a bit faster now than ol' Mamarachne can match.

Nonetheless, I quaff my 10th energy drink(god, these things taste like ink) and whirl around to fire on Mamarachne. I idle wonder why I'm still aware of myself.

[Caffiend, buddy.]

Oh. Huh. Guess half of loss of volition is no loss of volition?

[Keep telling yourself that~]

* * *

By the time that we reach the entrance, both me and Mamarachne are heavily winded, and my shields are all fully charged on Aura. I move away from the entrance.

The moment the Queen Arachne exits the cave(it's quite a squeeze, and I wonder if I only survived because Mamarachne was literally retunnelling the area to chase me) she's peppered with bullets from not one, not two, but three Bullheads.

"Well, aren't you a mess?" I heard a familiar voice say as the Queen Arachne staggered a little under the pressure.

I look and see five blurry figures. My vision hasn't quite adjusted to the light again.

"H-headmaster Ozpin?!"

"Indeed. I cannot simply ignore the presence of such a deadly Grimm so close to Vale." Ozpin pauses. "Oobleck. Glynda. Use fire. Peter. Qrow. Harry it. I want it hemmed in by the time those guns run dry." His eyes flick over to me. "We'll talk later. In the future, though, I suggest either being ready to take out all the eyes, say with a shotgun, or not actually going for the eyes. Ocular trauma's a good way to piss off a Grimm."

"I'll take that into consideration." I say, squinting at the battle. "Perhaps I should get a heavier gun..." I muse to myself.

"What you have seems to have done well enough, given the eyes." Ozpin comments.

"Well, yeah, but I only have 10 more bullets that can do that kind of damage." His eyesbrows raise when I say that. I don't know why I lied about how many I had available, but then again, having those extra 2 in reserve could prove useful, I guess.

Ozpin watches the Mamarachne intently for a minute before darting in. He strikes at the eyes with a flurry of blows, managing to take out another 3 of it's eyes before a swipe with a claw sends him tumbling back. Qrow's scythe is being held by the other claw, and Peter's...wrestling the stinger?

Glynda and Oobleck are raining Dust strikes on it from afar, which seem to be sort of sloughing off its carapace.

"Heh...guess I'm not on the bench yet, after all." I note to myself before darting forward. "Junction! Stone Fist and Rip Armor!" I incant twince.

Two stone hands fling themselves towards the Mamarachne, grasping at seams in the carapace and intentionally ripping at it. At first, I don't think it's going to do anything, but then Mamarachne lets out a keening wail and the armoring plate falls off because of my stone hands' effort.

I ignore the murmured-slash-shouted oaths from Glynda and Oobleck. "Rename skill Stone Fist to Fist, rename Rip Armor to Rip. Junction Fist and Rip. Junction Fist and Rip." I say smoothly, more and more stone hands appearing to tear savagely at Mamarachne's armor. However, now that it understands the dangers the hands pose, the singer stops going for Peter Port and instead slaps the hands out of the air, shattering each of them.

"What in the name of Dust was that?"

Ah. Right. Witnesses

"Glynda, while it was fascinating, this is not the appropriate time to question such occurences." Oobleck intervened.

"Er, right." She waved her riding crop and a bunch of sticks sharpened themselves before launching, like javelins, towards the now exposed patch of flesh on the Arachne.

The stinger plows once more through the midst of the sticks, blocking most of them, but three of them bury deep into the Queen Arachne's flesh, drawing a scream from the wounded beast.

And this is before Peter casually rams the end of his blunderaxe(Battlebuss?) into the fleshy area, then pulls the trigger. The grip on Qrow's scythe looses with a spasm as chunks of gore rain outward from the shot.

Mamarachne's last eye glitters balefully, and suddenly, I feel a deep sense of danger. I step back just as she launches herself forwards, bowling through the Huntsmen between me and her. Her stinger slams down into the spot I occupied a second ago...before both claws lash out, the first clipping me and spinning me around, and the second slamming into the base of my neck.

Without Aura, I'm sure I would have been crippled. No, scratch that, I think that enough damage was caused THROUGH aura that it would have crippled me. It's solely due to Gamer's Body that I instead get flung through the air and slam facefirst into a tree.

Now, Gamer's Mind and Body aside, to a certain extent, pain is pain, and pain has a wonderful way of short-circuiting mental processes. Add on to that the fact that I'm technically half unaware of what I'm doing because of Caffiend, and that's my only explanation for what followed.

I pull out the Katars and slur out, "Junction Screech and Scissor Strike."

As the katars slide against each other, they produce the most ungodly wail known to mankind, and my lips echo it. Combine the sound of teeth and/or nails on a chalkboard with the screaming of a dozen babies and you might get a rough approximation of how horrible it was to listen to.

Even the Queen Arachne froze when faced with such a horrible sound. Qrow, being mildly drunk, was the next after me in who tolerated it the best. I was simply too dazed to acknowledge the sound.

* * *

"As the kid made the most horrible noise imaginable, only one thought came to mind.

God, I need another fucking drink."

-'This Isn't A Fucking Diary: Excerpts from the Diary of Qrow Branwen', Qrow Branwen. (The irony is palpable)

* * *

"And behold, for the first time He Spoke, His Chosen and His Foes alike were down struck to their knees by the sound of his Voice for miles around. His Voice spoke of Rage and of Chaos, yet there was a Beauty within the Discord. His Foes and Friends alike were Awed by his Voice, an Awe that overwhelmed their natural Fear and shielded them from the Others."

-'The Book of Burning', Maroon ('The Mad' to friends, 'The Moron' to enemies)

* * *

"Thankfully, the sound was bad enough that rather than emit a wave of negativity, many of the Faunus subjected to it instead seemed lapse into a state of shock. Afterwards, most of those who had previously consumed alcohol requested a hair of the dog and asked what day of the week it was; those who had not instead generally requested euthenasia."

-From the notes of Dr. Brown

* * *

"Why are all madmen obsessed with capitalizing random words in the middle of their sentences, anyway?"

-Review of the Book of Burning

* * *

With Mamarachne distracted by the keening sound, she doesn't react to the fact that the sliding blades are carving a path towards what remains of her ocular organs. Unfortunately, enough of her exoskeleton in that area remains to deflect the blades.

Fortunately, I realize this and start firing wind bolts as the tips cross over the eye.

The screech that Mamarachne lets out is like music to my ears. Literally, after the screech the Katars made. Actually rather soothing in comparison.

"...I need to add some coke to this." Slurs Qrow as he takes the opportunity to drink something from his flask.

"...You mean like the drink, or like cocai-"

"YES."

Now Mamarachne is fighting nearly entirely blind, the wind bolts having obscured her vision in her one remaining eye. Her claw lashes out towards Qrow and misses completely. Her stinger slams down for Oobleck, who barely has to sway to dodge.

And then Ozpin flashes forward in a blur, cane slamming forward through a ruined eye socket. Mamarachne spasms once, before going limp.

"W-Well, well fought." He comments when he's had a moment to breathe. He glances at me.

"...It's good that you found that." He says. "It was incredibly risky of you to go in there, but it's good. If you hadn't, then..." He pauses. "The smallest Arachne are usually nearly the size of horses before the Queen Arachne leads them against humans." He says. "With her dead, we can have a few of our third year teams go in there and clear the rest of the cave out."

My heart stops.

"...Could we talk about that first, Headmaster?" I ask carefully, toeing the dirt and trying to give him a significant look. "Since I started the job, I was kind of hoping..."

He sighs. "Perhaps after we discuss...appropriate discipline." He says casually.

Qrow notices the Grimm's body begin to fade and clears his throat, waving at the Beacon teachers and Bullhead pilots to draw their attention away from the inevitable loot drops. "Drinks are on me at Whiskeyed Away!" He shouts. I quickly slip past Ozpin and the others as the body fully fasdes away, revealing another book, 'Weaver of the Webs', thirty vials of venom(CHRIST), 25000 lien(WHOO), the Psuedosoul(Arachnid Dungeon and 30000 experience, yippee!) 3 bolts of Sticky Silk and 3 bolts of Sturdy Silk(It's like Christmas in October! Wait...can I even use the Sticky Silk if it's wrapped up into a bolt? NOOOOOO)

* * *

"I hope you understand, mister Greyhart, that the reason why Huntsman teams are in groups of fo-usually in groups of four-is for exactly these reasons."

I cough lightly, kicking at the ground. "I-I totally had everything up to the Queen!" I protest.

"And then you didn't. And you kept going. If you had had friends with you..." Sip. "Perhaps you would have shown greater caution, if nothing else. Additionally, perhaps your plan to set things on fire might have actually worked if you had done it in more than one place."

"But-"

"And. If you had died, then what would happen to your...extracurricular activities?"

"Aaaah..."

"By the way, I saw that it had dropped a book. May I see it for a second?"

"...As long as you give it back." I reluctantly pass it over.

Ozpin takes a minute to tap the title into his scroll. "...This book doesn't exist."

"...What."


	28. Chapter 28:Have You Seen Our Cat?

Chapter 28:Have You Seen Our Cat?

"I just want to make it clear that I'm only doing this for the Greater Good." I mutter to myself in my Empty Dungeon.

My words ring hollow in the face of the atrocity I am about to commit. The sheer crime against humanity, the utter disrespect for womankind and the ultimate in distaste.

I was about to 'write' Twilight.

Nevermind that there are plenty of women that like Twilight, it still smacks of disrespect that 'stalking'='love'. Not to mention all of the other creepy shit. Like, you know, the fact that half your age plus seven is INCREDIBLY disregarded in this story. Fucking hell.

"Man, fuck Stephenie Meyer." I growl under my breath

However...in my world, this book sold MILLIONS of copies. As much as I hate it, this(and Weaving The Webs) is quite possibly my best option for funding the Twin Suns.

At least until I gain enough skills and stats(Not levels, though my first thoughts go there; levels are utterly irrelevant until I spend stat points, excluding the whole 'party cap') to hunt really high level monsters. Preferably, also gain a summon who can handle them, though that seems like a fever dream right now with what few fragments I have being so low level.

I sip at my hot chocolate as I type. Heaven forbid I be UNCOMFORTABLE while perpetrating my crime against humanity!

My fingers fly across the keyboard, which I fortunately was able to arrange into QWERTY layout.

After a minute of typing, a notification popped up.

[Through continuous attempts to gain carpal tunnel, you have learned the skill Speed Typing(Qwerty).

Previous life experience has risen this skill to level 17

Speed Typing(Qwerty) Level 17 52%

Maximum typing speed of 83 WPM

Average typing speed of 67 WPM]

I rip my eyes away from the notification to see that I accidentally typed that instead of off the page. With a growl of frustration, I erase that.

"Fuck...Stephenie...Meyer..." I groan again.

I take a break after two straight hour of typing, barely a few percentage points of the way through the first book. In spite of Gamer's Body and my full health, I can almost feel my fingers spasming a little.

The good news is that Speed Typing reached level 19! Now I'm going a bit faster.

...

kiiiiiiiiill meeeeee

I inventorize the laptop and the book(carefully bookmarking it, because LIKE HELL am I losing my spot) before changing over to a Wolf Dungeon to kick some ass.

After another hour of that(and a good forty wolf hides(that's as many as four tens, and that's terrible), some more fangs(Hey! More jewelry to craft!)) I return to the book, groaning as I have to keep reading it in order to type it.

pleaaaase kill me...

Okay, fine, on the surface, as just a book, it isn't QUITE bad enough to want to actually die. But it's still not exactly the peak of fine literature.

After another hour, I crack open the other book to do the same to it instead.

Now, I should probably clarify that this story has nothing to do with Tim Berners-Lee. Rather, this book is apparently... by a Drider... who wrote a text on how they literally weave webs.

...

Can I even make any money off this?

...Oh, hold on, there's a section on how to do it with magic instead of with actual spinnerets.

...

Waaaaaaaait. But almost nobody HAS magic!

Welp, this book is officially valueless. It might not be worthless, but it is undoubtably without value.

Still, I hold off on using it for now, instead electing to continue with the Twilight series, to my utter dismay.

...

Oy! Background Music! Play... Er... Fuck it. Play Immortals.

I start bopping my head to the sounds of Fall Out Boy while I type, allowing the music to preserve the sanity that Gamer's Mind isn't doing much to stop from dripping out my ears.

*Huh. What do you know. Maybe you DO have what it takes to be a wielder of evil.*

Shut up, My Sarcasm

*Oh yeah, I'll totally get on that, right after making fun of you for thinking that you can control the imaginary personification of your own sarcasm.*

Okay, I don't really know what I was expecting, but that's...fair.

...

Shut up anyway, you piece of shit.

*You know, it really isn't healthy to be able to carry a conversation with a aspect of your own personality.*

You're right. Would you care to lance yourself?

...

Okay, I think that's done.

Thank God.

I pop out of the Dungeon after another hour or so of writing. It's about time that I face the music.

...Actually, let's not. I instead walk out to Vale and buy about, oh...1000 Lien's worth of expensive chocolate.

Will I need all of it? Probably not.

Will it hurt? Also probably not.

Giving Weiss cheap chocolates probably wouldn't help the situation if she was that pissed, though, hence why I went with the classy stuff.

...

Can Blake even eat chocolate? I know that chocolate poisons dogs, but what about cats?

I glance at my scroll and look it up.

Oh, so theobromine poisoning is bad with cats AND dogs.

Next question:Do Faunus get theobromine poisoning faster if their species gets it at a lower dosage?

If Blake was a rat faunus, this wouldn't be a issue-they actually have a stronger tolerance than humans. As it is, I just don't know.

I quickly create a account for a medical forum under a assumed name and ask the question.

It shouldn't be a concern, since Blake has aura, but really, why would I want to risk it?

[Through performing a action, you have gained the skill Basic Toxicology!

Through implementing precautionary measures, you have gained +1 Wisdom]

She can probably have a LITTLE bit of chocolate and tea, but if I see her with a mound of chocolate, tea or cola, I should probably be worried.

Okay! That's settled. Wait, is it racist to think about that?

...Probably not? As long as I have a genuine health concern and i'm not just like 'lawl cats don't eat human food' anyway.

Wait. Thinking about Blake...aren't I forgetting somethin-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

* * *

Okay, to be fair, when Weiss talked about it, I was literally busy running for my life. Really, isn't that enough of a excuse to have forgotten that Blake is missing?

...Huh. We have a awfully human-concentrated crowd today. Normally I can at least pick out one or two faunuses(Fauna? Fauni?) walking around, but today I only see humans.

I walk around, then promptly realize that this isn't fucking working.

"Excuse me, sir, have you seen my teammate, Blake?" I ask a random stranger.

"Have you seen Blake Belladonna?"

"Basch Lives! I mean, have you seen my teammate, Blake?"

And so on.

After a hour, I try calling Blake. The scroll picks up on the second ring.

"Blake, are you-"

"Schnee Dust." The voice on the other end says, and my blood runs cold. "That's what it says on your armor."

"Who are you? What the FUCK did you do with Blake?"

"Roman Torchwick's the name, dust's the game." He pauses. "The rules include armed robbery, theft, and have just expanded to kidnapping. Now, normally I'd threaten to kill her, but my...colleagues... have convinced me that it would be best to make...other arrangements." If I had frozen a second ago, I had just been plunged down to 10 degrees kelvin.. His next words confirm my fears. "Perhaps you're familliar with the name...Adam Taurus?"

My hand shakes and my mouth dries out. "What...do you want?" I grit out.

"I want you to tell me about every Dust shipment you have any idea of. Then, you're going to stay with me as collateral-I doubt you'd be willing to leave the girl with me."

"Damn right I wouldn't. And I don't know about any dust shipme-"

"Bullshit."

"I don't! But," I continue. "If it's dust you want, well, I have plenty of that myself."

I hear a thoughtful hum from the other side.

"I'll give you twice her weight in dust. Then you let us both walk."

"Kiddo? If you have that much dust, you have yourself a deal."

"Just remember, the next time we meet after the trade, I'm going to fucking kill you." I snarl.

"Well," I can practically hear the smirk in his voice. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

I hesitate. "When and where will we meet?" I ask.

"Don't call me. We'll call you." There's a click and I move the scroll away, staring at it.

How...What...

How had Torchwick captured her? That's not something I remember from any of the stuff I read.

After a minute of shock, my blood boils in my veins.

Right. Worry about 'how' later, first deal with 'what', as in 'what the hell am I going to do about this'.

The only good news is I have time to prepare.

The bad news is that they have time to prepare, and access to the meeting location since they're going to choose it.

Fuck.

I decide to head for a blacksmith's first.

* * *

"That'll be 2500 lien, and you can pick it up in a few hours."

I nod, immediately handing it over.

I have time to make a few more pit stops.

I stop in two grocery stores to buy items that probably would be suspicious bought together, especially in the quantities purchased. The air masks I pick up, well, they aren't exactly gas masks, but they'll filter something, and the same goes for the safety goggles, which should help avoid getting any irritants in my eyes.

I also stop to buy a few 44 gallon drums. While one would hold roughly 700 kilograms of Dust(assuming a roughly equal density to that of diamond), I have...other important uses for them.

And yes, they all involve saving Blake.

I take a minute in Empty Dungeon to confirm a few suspicions regarding containers and the function of my inventory.

"As I suspected." I mutter softly. "...Perfect."

Roman Torchwick...Death is too good for you.

[Fortunately, I'm willing to settle!]

...Fuck off. Don't ruin my moments. Especially when I'm being cliche AND serious.

{Yeah! Give him a break, Samedhi!}

[I saw that coming, but I still wasn't looking forward to it.]

{Eyyy!}

...

So this is what it feels like when someone doesn't get one of my references.

Well, anyway, pop culture references won't help me get Blake back to safety!

{But what if you can MAKE them help you?}

What.

{Hehehe. Just a thought.}

...Okay then.

So. I have to somehow save Blake. Ostensibly as easy as touching her. Which means that most likely, getting into touch range will be incredibly difficult.

I grit my teeth.

After she's secure, I have to somehow disable Roman Torchwick and all of his cronies. My new Junction skill could probably assist with that, but I doubt it'll actually disable any of them.

...

I have a plan, and it's probably incredibly stupid. It'll definitely set back my Twin Suns plan significantly.

But... I don't find that I particularly care.

Roman Torchwick...you're gonna die.

* * *

The mysteriously vested man strolls into Junior's bar once again.

Junior looks up. "I tried to call you about that package you wanted delivered earlier," He says casually. "Your scroll was off."

The mystery man that totally isn't me meets his eye and nods. "Can we have a minute to discuss alternate delivery?" Totally Not Me asks, depositing a 50 lien note on the counter.

"Alright, Courier." Junior says with a grin, sweeping it up and nodding for me to head to the back.

Once we arrive, he says, "I need to hire mercenaries. Strong ones. Preferably decent ones."

Junior quirks a eyebrow. "For what?"

"Rescue mission. The daughter of a rather important person was kidnapped today."

"How important?"

"Irrelevant. Just know that if harm came to her, people on both sides of the conflict to come would be...miffed." I, er, The Courier says casually.

"I...see." He says slowly. "Can you tell me who she's to be rescued from?"

"Roman Torchwick and his lapdogs," I (Alright, dangit, it's me this time too) snarl, "Kidnapped her today. Torchwick...said that he'd give her to someone who hurt her before." I say slowly.

"...And you aren't just talking about physically, are you?" Junior makes eye contact with me. I hold it for five seconds before shaking my head silently. "That's what I thought. Ransom?"

"...Yes. He wants a significant amount of Dust." I stare Junior unflinchingly in the eyes. "I trust you understand that anyone attempting to gather over 100 kilograms of dust is less than likely to have good intentions?"

"I understand perfectly." Junior says slowly. "...If you've misrepresented any of this..."

"I haven't."

He sighs. "...Damn it." He rubs at his forehead. He pulls out the 50 lien note. "...No charge."

"What?"

"She's just a kid, isn't she?"

"How do you..."

"Blake Belladonna. Daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna. Faunus, most likely a cat-eared trait unless Ghira and Kali are actually different kinds of felines-it can be a bit hard to tell sometimes. Was once in the Fang, frequently seen with Adam Taurus. No longer seen in the Fang after the first attack on a passenger train, which was also the only one with no civilian injuries involving Taurus."

I swallow, throat dry.

"How do you know all of this, Mr. Junior?"

"Please, Mr. Junior is my father." Junior jokes dryly. "And I'm a information broker, and she kept calling herself by her real last name. Not a good way of hiding."

"I meant more about the Fang. Her lineage is obvious."

"A few people in the White Fang are gossips. Harder to come on operations than general information, since the former becomes irrelevant quickly."

I nod.

"Anyway, I'll put you in touch with some strong mercenaries. I might hint that a bit of royal favor from Menagerie might be forthcoming if they succeed to help drive down the price."

"Do whatever you need to do. I plan to make sure the demands are met, then the moment she's out of their sight or they refuse to let her go, to strike and strike hard."

Junior grins. "I was hoping you'd say that." He spits to the side. "Those White Fang bastards have been raising my heat and electric bills anyway." He grins widely.

I sketch a shallow bow with a grin of my own. He quirks a eyebrow in amusement.

"Then I will be off." I say before departing the bar.

...Dammit, I'm getting too used to doing everything by myself, aren't I?

I quickly text Weiss, 'Blake was kidnapped by Torchwick. Demanded Dust routes, talked him down to a bit over 100 kilograms of actual dust.'

'What? How did you learn that?! We tried to call her and she didn't respond!'

'Who tried? You, or Ruby and Yang?'

'Um, what exactly do you mean?'

'I mean that if you and Blake were having one of your little arguments, then you might have let them do the calling, and Torchwick wouldn't pick up because he'd know they didn't have much he wanted.'

'LITTLE?! She's a ANIMAL!'

I grit my teeth and pretend I don't know what she's talking about. 'What, like a skinwalker? Cool! Anyway, BRB, making plans to help our teammate.'

I ignore the buzzing of my scroll as she texts me back, putting it away.

"Bitch. Can't believe you get a title letter." I grouse.

I huff to myself as I stop in the blacksmith's.

"Ah! There you are. Your sword is done. It's a damn fine blade if I do say so myself. Make sure to take better care of her."

I nod politely. "Do you have the other thing I ask for?"

"Aye." He passes over a bag and the sword I gave him. I smile, taking care to not let it be a vicious smile. After all, none of my rage is directed at this man, only at Torchwick.

"Thank you very much," I say before leaving.

Okay, so... I have poison. Another Aura weakness is fire...

But Fire Dust is actually the least suited to the job!

I'm reminded of Fireball from DND, which specifically states that the fire comes and goes too fast to actually ignite anything.

I head to a camping supply shop to look for something with flammable oil.

* * *

...Fuuuuuuuck. It appears that, simply put, almost nobody WANTS oil type things when they can just use DUST.

I manage to lay my hands on a gallon of practically crude petroleum, and I'm not even sure how I managed that much.

For thickeners, I have to test a variety of food thickeners with a tiny bit of the oil to figure out how to make it work.

After about a half hour of very messy work and a thousand Lien down the drain, I manage to come up with a VERY crude replacement for napalm. Of course, I have no real way of dispersing it, so for now I stuff the 3 liters I manage to make into one of the drums.

I also stuff all the gunk on my hands into my inventory, pull out hand sanitizer, use it, then grab my remaining hot chocolate and chug it angrily.

Oh, yes.

Torchwick will REGRET the day he touched Blake.

The irony that I'm homebrewing things that I could probably find in the Anarchist's Cookbook to fight terrorists is not lost on me...

Hm. Wonder if I can somehow get my hands on a copy of that.

I mean, if I can get Twilight, you could at least give me something useful from my world, right Death?

...Death?

...In any case, odds are decent it'd be a drop from, you know, terrorists. So I guess I should just cary on and carry this out.

Hm. How effective will napalm(even the real stuff and not this shit homebrew) even be? I mean, yes, Aura doesn't protect from heat, and you can feel a burning sensation(if slightly muffled by the lack of flesh actually burning) through it, but at the same time Aura will protect from actually burning.

...

Maybe they'll just writhe in pain or something?

In that case, I should probably target areas that are likely to cause the most pain. Crotch, eyes, and face in general, that is.

Everything else is at best a okay target, but if I nail one of those three it should cause the most pain.

I stop by a recycling bin and take a few large glass bottles so I can fill them with the petrol.

My scroll buzzes again and I decide to finally check it.

Huh, I have messages from Ruby and Yang as well as Weiss. I promptly ignore Weiss's and check the others.

First is Yang.

'Look, if you're going to meet the bastard who took Blake, you should tell someone or at least let us come with you. I... don't really want Ruby to come, but Blake is our teammate. You can't do this without us, you hear?'

...She's right, as much as it pains me to admit it. Still, it seemed a liiiittle bit like Weiss wasn't thinking the same way.

On to Rubes.

'Grustlon Greyhart, if you think for one darn second that we're going to let you go off on your own to ransom or save Blake from Torchwick, then you're out of your fudging mind!'

...

That is both the most adorable and terrifying message i've ever received.

"God... Dammit... Ruby." I groan.

I text her back.

'Fine, tell the others I said that if Torchwick doesn't say that we have to meet along, you guys can come with me. I spent a little time picking up new tricks, so if things go south and I tell you guys to get out of the line of fire, you have to get out of the line of fire, though.'

'Tricks? What kind of tricks? Are they weapons?!'

'...Of a sort. Weapons hopefully designed to be extra effective against those with Aura, while still almost definitely lethal against those without. I only intended to use them after getting Blake out of there, obviously.'

'Huh. I look forward to seeing them! ;)'

...

No, Ruby. No you don't.

...

I'm so sorry for what you'll witness if I use them...


	29. Chapter 29:The God-Damned Waiting

After a few more hours, I return to the dorm room for SXBRG. It feels...empty. Not empty like nobody's in the room, but empty in that I somehow feel that Blake hasn't been here and isn't going to be for some time.

My fist clenches and I ignore it, marching straight to my own bed and flopping down on it. I resolutely ignore Weiss as I pass her on the way, pull out Twilight and begin transcribing it.

...

Dear god, Blake would have loved-no, will love- this book, wouldn't she?

My hands quiver as I type, but I force myself to focus.

This, too, is now a form of retribution.

Not upon Torchwick; I doubt he'll be around long enough for me to get a advance, or royalties. But upon Taurus and the Fang?

I will use every penny I milk from this book to fund their eventual, methodical destruction.

The pen may not truly be mightier than the sword, but the pen can be used to order a arms shipment.

I glance at the time.

Oh, it's almost time to go train with GOD FUCKING DAMMIT

How do you just...adjust to someone going missing?

I double down on my resolve, ignoring the empty feeling the room practically exudes, any of Weiss's furtive glances and the tear that streaks down my cheek, only the first of many.

Why...Why isn't Gamer's Mind at least lightening this a little...?

[Two things. I'll take the first:This is the first time you've lost anything, except cats. ... Wait.]

...

Fuck. You. Death.

[Hah, touchy!]

{And the second...It isn't any fun, for us or for you, for you to be nothing but a doll, incapable of negative emotion.}

I... That's... fair...

Fuck you anyway.

I keep writing.

Suddenly, a weight falls on my shoulder. I jolt and look up to find myself looking into Yang's eyes.

"Hey. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay." She murmurs softly. "We'll get her back, we'll kick their asses, and we'll also beat them up."

I give her a somewhat blank look.

"You know...because...presumably there's at least one donkey Faunus in the White Fang?"

I sigh and break out into a grin. "You know, I think that's the first pun I've heard you botch."

She blinks and stands up straight with a look of mock offense. "Whatcha doin over here, anyway?"

"Copying a book from my world. I-When she gets back, I'm going to give Blake a copy from the first print run." Yang's expression twitches almost imperceptibly when I nearly say 'if'. "I think she'll like it, it's a romance novel that's almost as popular in my world as it is tasteless." She lets out a chuckle.

"Yeah...that... sounds about right." She mutters softly, shaking her head.

My mood elevated, I nevertheless continue writing with a vengeance when I resume, fingers blazing across the keyboard. I ignore the notification pings, along with the glances from Weiss. Honestly, I'm glad Yang didn't decide to talk about their little discovery yet. I don't know if I can handle that kind of thing right now.

"Greyhart."

...And of course the moment I think that... "What." I grind out, looking up at the SDC Heiress. For all of two seconds before I look back down to my 'writing'.

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Knew what?"

"...That Blake's a fucking faunus!" She growls.

"...You didn't?"

"What."

"Her last name. Is Belladonna. She has black hair, and is in the CORRECT AGE RANGE. Anyone from your world with a basic grasp of current events should know that she's a faunus." I glance up again, giving her a look as if she had two heads. "Now, if you don't mind, I am doing something here." I focus my attention downwards.

"But...How did YOU find out about it?!"

"As soon as I got the chance, I took the time to get a grasp of current events. Oh, and by the way, her bow twitches. A pretty obvious giveaway."

"You... Why didn't you tell us?!"

"I'm sorry, should I tell you everything I know?"

"YES!"

"Okay." I take a deep breath. "The sky and the sea are blue; one plus one equals two; those plastic bits at the end of shoelaces are called aglets; the dots of i's and j's are called tittles; walking up to a girl who's busy writing and asking her to 'show you her tittles' doesn't make you clever, it makes you a fucking asshole; you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose..." I pause to take another breath and note Yang rolling on the floor nearby laughing. "The 300 warriors who covered the Spartan retreat only was counting actual Spartan warriors, and neither Thespians or Thebians; petroleum and agar can be used to create homemade napalm;" Weiss tries to interrupt me but I carry on, caught up both in my own sense of humor and anger to make my point even as I concealed a piece of actual important information in there. "Nothing can be said to be certain but death and taxes; discrimination is stupid and those who believe in it should feel stupid; Politicians are almost always corrupt; excercise makes you stronger; people die if they are killed; going on like this would make my throat hoarse if that was even possible;" I ignore Zwei hopping onto my bed and nosing me in the leg concernedly as I take another breath.

"Heroism is a incredibly dangerous occupation, yet I want to be one; I like pineapples; I am allergic to pineapples; I have been conscious for over 168 consecutive hours; the square root of 529 is 23; ketchup is incredibly tasty on a tuna salad sandwich; I have no idea what love technically or emotionally is; combining bleach and ammonia creates explosives and toxic fumes;" "Wait wha-" "In an unreliable economic situation, the only stable investment is porn;" Yang laughs even harder as Ruby and Weiss turn interesting shades, "Death is cheap, outliving your death is not; and I'm going to turn 20 by the end of this year."

I pretend to count on my fingers.

"Yeah, that's everything."

Weiss glares at me before throwing up her hands in a blend of disgust, embarassment, and frustration at all the things I just listed... typing the whole time.

"-Ahahaaah... I think you broke her." Comes from the floor near me. I glance to the side of my keyboard.

"You might be right, Yang." I smirk, pausing for a minute to offer her a hand up. "But if you ask me, it was worth it.

She takes my hand, gets up, then slaps me upside the head.

"HEY!"

"That was for talking about porn in front of my sister." She says, still grinning.

"...Fair." I grumble.

Unexpectedly, Ruby speaks up.

"...I think if we aren't going to talk to the professors, we should try to enlist Jaune's team." She says

"...Why? I mean, why them specifically?"

"Ren and Blake frequently read in each other's company. I'm friends with Pyrrha. Jaune...idolizes you."

"...What?"

"One:You practically took down a Deathstalker and a Nevermore, at the SAME TIME, by, to summarize the situation, RODEO RIDING THE NEVERMORE DOWN INTO THE DEATHSTALKER. Two:You wear a full set of cool fucking armor. Three:Your snark projects confidence far in excess of your actual confidence, and he's begun to imitate it. You are, if not prime idolization material, a pretty good candidate." Yang interjects. "...Regardless of your actual strength. Or perhaps partly because of your actual strength."

"Come again?"

"Every real fight you've undergone in the real world has been against enemies outside your weight class. They're obviously outside your weight class." She pauses. "Despite that, you find ways to beat them. I fully believe that if a herd of Goliaths walked up to you, you'd try to kick them in the balls."

"Goliaths?"

"Elephant Grimm."

"Oh, that one's easy, just stuff some killer ants down their trunk."

Everyone pauses to acknowledge the fact that I just described a way of killing a Goliath offhandedly.

"You see! That's exactly what I'm talking about. No matter what, you're constantly thinking of the enemy's vulnerabilities."

"...Intent... to kill..." I mutter.

"What?"

"There was...a derivative work in my world that claimed that the reason the main character was the most dangerous in the room...was because they had the intent to kill. I think I'm sort of passively analyzing combat situations and asking myself, 'What can I do to make this dead?'"

"So...do you care to share analysis of the upcoming one, then?"

"Even odds we get ambushed." I state firmly. "If we aren't, it won't be because Roman's alone. I predict ten to one odds at best. He will likely want to have overwhelming force available, so expect two to eight active Auras."

Weiss hisses. "This sounds like a incredibly dangerous mission. We should-"

"Tell the staff, which will likely result in Blake's throat getting slit? I already have countermeasures in place."

"Which are?"

"Four half-liter incindieries, a canister of volatile toxic gas, and mercenaries that are in the process of being hired."

"What's a half liter of Fire Dust going to do? Their Aura will just block it!"

"Ah, it would if it was Dust..."

"...What?"

I pull out the drum I mixed the napalm in, open a window, and inhale deeply.

"...'I just love the smell of Napalm in the morning'..." I quote.

Ruby looks into the drum in fascination, managing to ignore the smell while the other girls make a sound of outrage at the same smell. "This is one of the weapons you made? It doesn't look like much..."

"Tell me," I drawl. "What does getting hit with Fire Dust feel like? Assuming you have Aura left."

"Well... It burns for a moment, then it fades quickly?"

"This won't fade."

"...Huh?"

"It clings and burns at 2000 degrees or so. It can inflict third to first degree burns, creates carbon monoxide, which causes it's own poisoning, and can create firestorms in great enough uses." I pause. "In my world it was not uncommon for it to be used for aerial bombardments. Civilian casualties happened. It's pretty fucking gruesome."

Ruby visibly shrinks back a little. "...I don't think I like this weapon..." She mumbles unhappily.

"Good." I growl. "If any of us liked it, I'd have to NEVER let them touch it. This is not a toy. Whenever it's used, someone is probably gonna die. Painfully, unless they have severe nerve damage.."

The other three shudder with varying degrees of disgust.

"Which is why it's perfect for someone like Torchwick."

"...What." Yang says flatly.

"Allow me to put this into perspective for you, Yang.. Ruby, Weiss, step back; Yang, step closer." Once they comply, I whisper into her ear, "How would you react if someone was in a abusive relationship with Ruby?" She hisses. "Except she's a couple of years younger than she is now." One of her hands grips my elbow. "And he decided to use her as a personal soldier." Her grip tightens. "And when she left, he became obsessed with finding her." I feel bone grind under her grip. "And then someone kidnaps her and threatens to GIVE HER BACK TO HIM." I flare my Aura so I can extract my arm. Without my stats as high as they are, my Aikido training and the Aura buff, her grip would have been utterly inescapable.

Yang's eyes are locked on me with a certain amount of fire and... Did they just turn red...?

She turns around to look at Weiss and Ruby.

Ruby fidgets. "So... I...take it you're all for plan Light The Torch?"

...Oh my god, I've infected her with my bad jokes. Or maybe it was Yang? Or both of us together. Hm.

"Oh, YES." Yang bites out. "But first, I think I'll rip his 'wick' off AND WRAP THE SKIN AROUND HIS NECK TO FUCKING CHOKE HIM TO DEATH WITH IT!"

Ruby and Weiss blink.

They turn to me as one. "Do we want to know why she's so angry?" They chime, fully in synch.

"Nope." I say cheerfully. "Just know that we're going to be lighting Torches like we're neo-nazis at a Confederate statue."

"...So..."

"There will be lit Torches." I confirm.

Yang's eyes are no longer red. I assume this is a good thing.

"I'll bring the marshmallows." She jokes. I assume the very fact she can make jibes about roasting marshmallows over a human bonfire tells of her anger.

Ruby steps forward. "If you think you're leaving me behind, you'll have to think again." She declares, fire in her eyes.

All eyes turn to Weiss.

"I... I'm in, but this is...a bit much for me. " Weiss hesitates. "For the duration of any engagement with Torchwick, I hereby delegate command to Grustlon Greyhart." She says in tones of formality." That last paty is spoken into her scroll, which logs and records the information. She gives a wan, almost obviously fake smile. "After all... I have a few questions for Blake..." She manages. "And these are your weapons. Your plan."

I stare at her, jaw dropping for a minute.

"...Do you really trust me that much?" The only thing saving my voice from cracking is that I've become notably more masculine, with Charisma, Strength and Constitution all factoring into that.

"Idiot." Yang says lightly. "The issue isn't us not trusting you, it's that you're trying to hold everything back."

..."Thank you..." I mumble softly.

I hesitate.

"Weiss, do you know if there are any real uses for petroleum?"

She blinks. "I mean, it's used as a lubricant. if it's refined, and it's used to make plastic. Why?"

"It's the main ingredient in Napalm. If I can get more quietly, I can make more.

I pause to hit a bottle of Napalm with Observe.

[Molotov Moonshine Cocktail

Made by a novice chemist, this mixture of crude petroleum and agar is much less effective than real napalm, but far superior to alcohol or pure gasoline against people due to the stickiness.

Ignited:

Deals 200% of strength as blunt damage on impact

Deals a base of up to 7500 fire damage over time, if all the contents end up on a living target.

Rapidly degrades flammable items, even through Aura.

Generates large amounts of Carbon Monoxide. (Carbon Monoxide may inflict a Poison status in confined areas)

Inflicts the status Agony for duration of damage.

Unignited:

Deals 200% of strength as blunt damage on impact

Douses the area in Poor Napalm]

...I whistle softly.

"If I give any of you a bottle, you must be ABSOLUTELY certain not to get any on yourself." I say firmly. "This stuff... None of you have the Aura necessary to absorb more than a bottle, even ignoring the pain."

"So. Handle with care, then." I nod at Yang's comment.

"I'll look into finding a better distribution system after we get Blake back if it's going to become a thing. I get the feeling that some Grimm might get a little bit distracted by being on fire." I pause. "Then again, some Grimm might not even notice being on fire, and then you're being chased by Grimm that are on fire." I wiggle my hand in a 'so-so' motion. "Situational. Besides, if we set them on fire, Blake wouldn't be able to do anything to them." I joke feebly.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because." I say seriously. "Ninjas can't catch you when you're on fire."

Oddly enough, out of everyone there, Weiss is the only one to get the joke.

"...Oh, come on! Has nobody here heard of Toph Hastings?"

..."As in Christopher Hastings?"

"Yeah."

"...Does he qualify as high culture here?"

"...Does he not on your world?"

I let out a sigh. "Unfortunately not." I pause. "A lot of people like his work though, myself included. ...I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same."

"...What do you mean?"

"Humanity is still rotten at the core, yet there are genuinely good people. Sometimes, they're even people in power." I tick off on one of my fingers. "We find the stupidest things to fight or even kill over." I tick off a second finger

"I-" Weiss starts to protest.

"Not just you. The Great War."

"...Huh?"

"Fighting to restrict art and the right to express oneself. Incredibly fucking stupid. Don't get me wrong. Your fight with Blake? It was kinda stupid too, but at least in theory, in optimal circumstances, nobody should have died because of it."

She looks down at the ground regardless.

"Anyway, yeah. At least there aren't enough humans on this world to do what we've done to ours."

"...Huh?"

"Our world is...was, I guess... Was dying." I say. "It was a bunch of factors. But what it really boils down to is, for thousands of years, we took the world itself fro granted." I pause. "Imagine for a second what would happen if the world ran out of dust. Not had a dust shortage. For whatever reason, there was NO MORE DUST. We were getting there. But we probably never would have made it there." I take a deep breath. "We... Used petroleum and coal instead of Dust on our world. Burning them released pollutants into the air on such a massive scale that it began to alter the weather. Extremes got more extreme. Storms became hurricanes. And it was so... so damn slow that people refused to listen to the warnings of scientists. Oh, there were a few people, but they didn't make enough of a difference." I swallow. "I know Dust doesn't create pollutants, at least not the same way Oil and Coal did. But... But I'm going to do my best to reduce dependence on it whenever I have a year or two to spare."

[Quest Obtained:Renewable Source

Discover that Dust is a renewable power source!

-OR-

Create a method of making Dust from something renewable!

-OR-

Introduce Remnant to alternative power sources early, to prevent them from using up their dust!

Reward:Assorted Reputation gains, Titles, and mysterious rewards!

Path A:Knowledge that the eventual end of the human, or at least Faunus race is at least further away!

Path B/C:Extended lifespan of sentient beings on Remnant, potentially made indefinite! Your legacy will be legendary!

Note that none of these paths will actually prevent straight up genocide.]

"What? No, no, Dust couldn't run out, right? There's so much of it..." Weiss shakes her head.

"Not in your lifespan. I'm not even...sure if I have a lifespan anymore." I say slowly. "But Samedhi-"

"Alright, enough of this Baron bullshit!" Yang declares. "Who is this Baron!?"

[I like her!]

{You don't like anyone, Death.}

[Hey! That's slander!]

"...It's... A name for..." I make a lemon face. "...Death."

"...Death."

"...Yes. Death."

"You're telling me that the god-damned MANIFESTATION OF DEATH ITSELF gave you a new life?"

"...Yes."

"WHY?!"

"Death is patient. Besides that, my actions have probably resulted in a few deaths by now, so already Death gets his investment paid back."

"Your actions what."

"The White Fang fight?"

"Oh, right." She humphs. "What about when you save lives, though?"

"If Death craves souls at all, He's like a farmer." I say casually.

[I object strongly to that comparison.]

"I mean, my plans should result in uprooting the metaphorical weeds that have taken this world to make more room for the metaphorical crop."

[I object even more strongly.]

DUDE, you're LITERALLY called the Grim REAPER.

...

Yeah, you can't say anything to that, can you.

{He's totally sulking!}

[I am not! Shut up!]

I chuckle softly, though I quickly go somber.

"Anyway, Weiss, I need petroleum. Any ideas?"

"The SDC hits quite a bit of petrol underground while looking for dust deposits. I...might be able to arrange a discount and a shipment."

I grimace. "Use a third party shipper if you can. Torchwick's trying to hit the trains."

I pause before turning to Ruby and Yang. "I...don't have anything for you two to do. Just...spend your time wisely, okay?"

With that, we begin our preparations.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30:Bring Your Own Bombs

I stare at the javelin in my hands.

I had three plans for today:

Increase my arsenal, learn more varied skillbooks and learn new Junction skills.

I let out a mighty yell and bring the Javelin down onto my knee. With a*crack* it splits in two, leaving me with two 2-foot long bone poles.

I pull out a knife, a engraver, and some other tools and get to work.

In less than 15 minutes I have two serviceable foot-long rods. Another 15 minutes later and I've engraved them with sigils(which are COMPLETELY distinct from Runes). I coat the handles in molten amber, then allow it to cool.

With that done, I call upon my magic and draw a soul-shell from my body, imbuing it into one of the wands.

[-100 Experience!

-1 Zombie Soul!

Enchantment successful!]

I hit each with Observe.

[Wolfbone Wand

Durability:25/25

Melee:Deals 150% of Strength as Piercing

+50% Intelligence

+20% Wisdom

Spellfocus]

Huh, interesting. I tap Spellfocus for more information

[Spellfocus:

If only one Spellfocus is equipped:

Magical damage x1.5

+100% magical precision

If multiple Spellfoci equipped:

Spell mana cost multiplied by number of Foci

All spells duplicated to each Spellfocus]

So using one is more mana efficient, whereas if I can find a way to wield more than two(Maybe spellfocus rings or some weird multi-shafted(*If you know what i mean*) wand?) then I can unleash a full broadside in a single cast...and be left utterly drained afterwards.

Still, even if that tactic would leave me with only a single shot, it'd sure as fuck be a DAMN good one.

I Observe the one I added a soul to.

[Lightly Necrotic Infused Wolfbone Wand

Durability:30/30

Melee:Deals 150% of Strength as Piercing, and 50% of Intelligence as Withering damage

+60% Intelligence

+20% Wisdom

+5% Constitution

Necrotic Spellfocus]

Mostly the same, except Necrotic Spellfocus adds that 10% of all damage is 'Withering' damage, too.

Neat. It's concretely better than the unimbued wand unless I'm fighting something that's resistant to Withering damage.

On to Junction.

"Junction Punch and Fist."

I examine the new skill, Stone Knuckle as I flex my fingers, noting that the back of my hand is covered in what feels like granite.

[Stone Knuckle level 6, N/A%, Cost: 10000 mana per minute

Fully unarmed damage x2.3

Does not count as a fist weapon

+20% Constitution

+20% Strength

-10% Dexterity

Damage to the back of the hand or wrist is converted to mana damage, at the rate of 1:0.8

Uses the lesser level of Fist and Punch

Usage gives experience to Fist and Punch

Permenance of the skill grants it's own skill level, would you like to make this skill permanent?]

Hm. I dismiss it with a 'no' and grab one of the books I picked up.

[Gray's Anatomy]

Because OF COURSE it's a thing, it's a fucking COLOR NAME.

I quickly nom on the book, then immediately Junction Repair Body and Anatomy

[Knit Tissue and Bone level 1

Heals a organic target for 1000% Int+Wis

Does not work on plants

Works on dead bodies]

I ignore the further blurbs and dismiss it.

Alright, so I can now actually heal with less fuss!

Wait, why is this a stat based heal? Repair Body wasn't...

I glance at Anatomy and blink

[Anatomy level 1 0%

+1% chance of critical hits

+1% damage to critical hits

+2.5% effect of all healing magic

+5% effect of medical treatment.]

Oh, come on! I know my stomach from my spleen!

[You don't even know what a spleen is!]

But I know what my stomach is!

Now, something else.

...I'm still feeling pretty fucking angry anyway.

"Junction Primal Fury and Meditation."

If before I was plunged into a furnace, I was just plunged into arctic currents.

I feel fury course through me, but it's cold. Calculating.

I take a minute to casually check the skill.

[Combat Trance level 1 N/A%, cost 5000 mp/minute

+100% all physical stats

+25% Intelligence+Wisdom

-50% Charisma for all non-intimidatory actions

Charisma x2 for intimidation purposes

+50% damage

Lures grimm within 100 meters, granting no buffs

Losing more than half your health within a minute will break the trance]

Huh. They kinda just patched over each other's faults!

If I make a skill permanent, will it keep levelling Junction, and will it be possible to junction it with other skills?

[Yes on both counts.]

"Make Combat Trance a permanent skill." I state.

[Permanent slot used!

Level Junction to gain more slots.]

I couldn't hold that skill without chugging a LOT of energy drinks, on the one hand. On the other?

Well, it offered REALLY fucking good buffs.

I pull out a energy drink(This time, I'd gone hog wild and purchased 5 boxes of 12) and quaff it to keep Combat Trance active.

Now...Let's see if I can create a new skill based solely off a visual I saw in a game! Surely nothing at all can go wrong with this.

I attempt to call upon my Aura, forming two spheres to my sides and slamming them together directly into my center of gravity.

[Through being a complete idiot and attempting to create a skill based solely off a video game, you have created the skill Aura Oversaturation! Seriously, does this LOOK like a anime to you? And even if it was, why do you think copying a equivalent to a Semblance without outside aid would work!

...Well, at least you weren't trying for Chartreuse Gale.

Aura Oversaturation level 1 5%, cost 1500 aura/minute]

a

I scan it. Huh, half the damage and training for twice the cost. I guess it's because Aura's supposed to keep me safe, so overloading it to the extent that it does something bad to me is harder.

...You do realize this isn't going to stop me from quoting Ash, right?

[Knock yourself out. No, please, do it. I'm not kidding. It'll be fun to watch.]

Yeah, no. Fucking sadist.

Iiiiii should probably learn to actually throw things.

I collect some rocks and start casually flinging them at trees. I've been doing all this outside of a Dungeon.

I...I can't miss Roman's call. I can't let anything happen to Blake.

I...I don't know how, but I'm sure this is all my fault somehow. Blake was never kidnapped in canon to my admittedly limited knowledge.

I re-junction Rock Knuckle. "RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGH!" I shout. Since Combat Trance is on, I have plenty of anger to channel into the punch.

My fist slams into the tree stump I targeted and splinters fly everywhere. I hear a growl behind me and lash out with a backhand, caving in the face of a Beowolf offhandedly.

"Equip... Title... Plastic Board Breaker." I hiss between my teeth. Then I bellow to the skies, ignoring the ping of a notification. "You want some fresh meat, you Grimm FUCKS? Come and get it! I'll tear your fucking throats out and shove them up your rectal cavities!"

The Emerald Forest goes silent around me.

Then I hear rustling from all directions, and I smirk, popping the top off a energy drink.

This close to Beacon, there were almost no grimm except for Ursae Minora and Beowolves.

Exactly the kind of things that, say, three multiplicative buffs to my damage and two to my strength would allow me to one shot. Four buffs, for the Beowolves.

I flare my Aura.

"I...Am Fistwolf, the man with wolves for fists!" I declare with a wild grin before starting to lay about me with my fists.

If I couldn't farm in the Dungeons, I would have to farm OUTSIDE of them. Damn the torpedoes! Er, cameras. I smash into a Beowolf Alpha with a savage right cross, then deliver a rapid series of jabs to a approaching Ursa Minor. I get clawed in the arm for my trouble, of course, but I kill it fairly quickly.

I kick a Beowolf in the snout, which barely fazes it, then deliver a uppercut that sents it flipping end over end into the air. "TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" I exclaim on it's behalf before smashing another punch into the face of an approaching Ursa. I feel a surge of something and a bluish energy coalesces around my fist, as as I withdraw it a chunk of flesh falls away, as if torn off by invisible teeth.

...And when I see 'chunk of flesh', I mean half of it's skull.

After about 20 of them have been thinned out, the Grirmm start to grow wary. Good for me. I pop open another drink and quaff it, easily delivering a bitchslap backhand to another Beowolf that decides to take advantage of the 'opening'.

Huh, there's a idea.

I slap it again and again, killing anything else that comes close and healing it whenever it comes close to dying.

I take a minute to glance at my notifications.

Huh, Warcry. Basically a skill that aggros a distance based on Constitution and Charisma.

And then there's a title...

[Titan's Scion:Atlas

One man alone cannot bear the weight of world on his shoulders, but you refuse to let that stop you from trying. Your dogged determination has won you some measure of favor with He Who Bears The World On His Shoulders, and the ability to take some of that weight onto yourself with this title in exchange for a pittance of power..

+50% Charisma

+50% Wisdom

x0.5 Strength

+100% Strength Gains

x0.5 Constitution

+100% Constitution Gains

x0.5 Dexterity

+75% Dexterity Gains

+10 Reputation with Atlas(Titan) per hour. Scales to Strength.]

Well, if I'm only taking a PORTION of the weight, thene he probably can't leave me stuck with it, but this still strikes me as a somewhat bad idea. Probably best to ignore it.

...

But it's so damn good for training purposes!

After a few hours of intense fighting, everything but my victim, er, chosen companion is dead, and the 'companion' is whimpering on the ground and cowering in front of me from all the times I hit it.

It feebly goes to bite me but immediately desists the moment I lift my hand, cowering in front of me.

I withdraw a bolt of Sticky Thread from my inventory and unwind a length, using it to mark around his throat. At the same time, I activate Wolf's Fang.

"Listen here, buster. You'll stay away from humans. You'll come when I do this." I stick my fingers in my mouth and let out a shrill whistle. "And you will track the movements of other Grimm so if I ask you about specific areas, you can tell me about them. If you live long enough to become a Alpha Beowolf, you will force your pack to stay away from humans. Understand?"

It lets out a submissive whimper.

"Scratch twice with your left paw if you understand and will obey."

It does so. I cast one last heal at the Beowolf.

"Oh, and if you're good... I'll bring you places where nobody will care if you or your run wild. Dismissed." I watch it scamper away and read the notifications.

[By, er, 'Pacifying' a Grimm, you have obtained your first Animal Companions!

Animal Companions, by and large, are fickle beasts. Grimm even more so. You can earn temporary obedience with a stick, but permanent fealty requires carrots as well. Many, many carrots. They gain in power much faster than most of their kind, so beware!

You have discovered a new Animal Companion Type!

Beowolf

Wildness(Determines taming difficulty and speed of tameness degradation):95%

Treats, in order of preference:

Live human

Live faunus

Human meat, fresh

Faunus meat, fresh

Human bones, fresh

Faunus bones, fresh

Human blood,fresh

Faunus blood, fresh]

Well, keeping this fucker tame is going to be...difficult.

[Name your Animal Companion!]

Hmm. Wolfy McWolfface? Castle? (Wolfenstein, that is) Jacob?

"I hereby name you Pavlov." I mutter.

[Pavlov the Beowolf

Level 20

HP:500/500

AP:0

MP:0/250]

...Huh. Isn't that a similar thing to what Humans had when they hadn't unlocked their aura?

Disturbing implications.

[Strength:20

Dexterity:30

Constitution:30

Intelligence:5

Wisdom:20

Charisma:5

Trust:-100

Fear:110

Respect:0

Love:0

Total Loyalty:10(Mutinous)]

That's... not exactly a surprise.

What is a surprise is that status line...

[Status:Terrorized, The Queen's Will(Passive)]

What.

Anyway, I make my rounds around the clearing, collecting 10 Ursa Skin Rugs(Nora MUST NEVER KNOW), 20 Bear Asses(Dammit Death, what am I even going to do with these?!), 4 Bear Arms(Which are...apparently fist type weapons. That can only be equipped on my right hand, so... I have to use my right to bear bear arms.), 127 Ursine Teeth, and 52 Ursa Claws.

I glance at my notifications again and blink.

[Through beating bear-type monsters senseless, you have obtained the achievement Bear Hands!]

I'm not nearly drunk enough for this, am I?

It was funny once, but i mean, come on, surely there isn't a achievement for killing EVERYTHING unarmed?!

...On the other hand, looking back, there was totally one for punching wood, which gave me the ability to make any basic tool out of wood. What the fuck Death?

[Deal, bitch.

Anyway, Bear Hands!

Your hands are now infused with the might of the ursine foes you struck down with them, granting +50% damage with unarmed strikes and an additional x2 damage with your unarmed attacks towards more bears.]

I sigh.

I also gather another 21k lien.

...

As cathartic as beating the shit out of a bunch of weak grimm was, I think I should head back just in case there are any more Caerbannogs out here. This was so fucking stupid, I could have been eviscerated!

Although, there is just one thing I should do.

I pull out a axe I'd purchased from the blacksmitch, check for a few fair-sized trees, and begin chopping them down.

I start humming the Lumberjack Song under my breath.

After the first tree, I try something and grin madly when it works.

Son of a birch, now I need to work on tree puns... What do yew think, Chaos?

{I can only approve.}

...Pfft, oh my god. I can just see myself now. 'I hope you're into guys, because I'm about to give you some long hardwood'.

[Seriously, I think even Yang would cringe at that one.]

MUHAHAHA!

Ooh, I can call whoever I hit with one of these a 'sap'.

Fuck the Tree Feather Token, I AM THE TREE FEATHER TOKEN, BITCH! THROWN DAMAGE ON A CABER INDEED!

I test myself on how rapidly I can switch items in and out of my inventory, then switching them mid-motion, then I start working on adding and removing it as part of a defense.

Actually... I pull out the Sword of Beowulf and examine it.

It's still stuck in it's sheath. I try simply holding it by the hilt and mimic a block with it.

...I don't seem to be seeing any problems. Right, so I guess I can treat it like a sword-shaped shield...that can take a tactical nuke. And another. And another. And probably the entire fucking arsenal of nuclear missiles on my home planet.

After that, it might have a few scratches.

Of course, the issue with that is that I WOULD HAVE DIED ON BEING HIT BY THE FIRST ONE.

The only person who can block things like explosions and radiation is Fighter. I am not Fighter.

...

Or is Parry Anything some sort of skill? I mean, he parried the planet. That takes...mind-bending brokenness.

Hm.

My eyes roam over my skill list, widen, then narrow.

...

Bloodhound's Nose.

...

And I happened to accidentally save myself a target.

[line]

"He's...family. I wouldn't say we're close, and I don't approve of his...adventures, but Mother asked me to look after him." 'he' wrings his hands in dismay. "I, I've been out of town and I only just heard about what happened to him. Please...may I see Onyx?"

After a minute, the nurse looks convinced by my sob story. With Bloodhound's Nose active, I take a soft breath. Then, gathering all my courage, I stoop down to hug Onyx's comatose formm as best I can with the bed in order to get close enough to get a REAL good whiff of his scent.

According to science, humans actually have pretty good noses for tracking things they can smell, and the Bloodhound bonus expanded both the range of scents and the intensity.

I hover in the room for about half a hour before leaving, doing my best to look still distraught afterwards.

I do a swap to Death's Courier and head to the Torgue Dust shop to investigate.

It's the better part of a hour locating a trail, but once I get on it it's much easier to follow..

I track the scent to a warehouse, then watch it long enough to see some Faunus enter and leave.

...

Well, it can't be THAT racist. If a Fang's scent trail leads directly to a place where Faunus are entering and leaving, then it's probably a white fang base.

Now, the last thing I can afford is to have Beacon staff or police acting, so my next action really feels like the only thing I can do.

I pull out my Courier Scroll and look up a scroll number. I immediately call it.

"Hello?"

"Greetings, Winchester." I say, having triggered the voice scrambler.

"...Who the hell is this?"

"That's not the question you want, no, need the answer to." Nobody who isn't a straight up villain lacks a backstory, a motivation behind their actions. And while Cardin might be a tool, that's what makes him perfect to use as a tool. "I know about what happened to them."

"How could you possibly know about my mother!" Cardin replies heatedly. Ah, you fell for the bait.

"I know she was killed by the White Fang." I respond. Still bluffing, but the intake of breath on the other end confirms things. "I... am no friend of the Fang, though I oppose your views on the rest of the Faunus population."

"...What do you want?" He hisses softly.

"I know the location of a White Fang base. I'll call you again at another point, and you'll be ready to hit it as hard as you can. You won't tell anyone outside of your team." I pause. "Your actions could save a young woman from death or worse."

"W-what do you mean? Why wouldn't I tell anyone?"

"I mean..." I say. "That a girl around your age was recently kidnapped. I heard there were threats of Adam Taurus himself raping her if a ransom wasn't paid. And if you told anyone outside your team, they might decide to kill her if they acted."

I hear a angry noise from the other end, and find some small amusement in using Cardin like this. Blatant manipulation? Oh, yes. He almost certainly wouldn't do this if he knew she was a Faunus. But with him not knowing that, and me taking the relatively risk-free guess that Cardin's opinion about the Faunus was because someone close to him had been killed by the Fang and getting him to divulge that, I had immediately maneuvered him into a position to wreak havoc behind enemy lines during the meeting.

I do feel a slight twang of guilt at sending four people younger than me into mortal danger, but since I'll send them in when the meeting time's confirmed, I reckon they'll be on light guard, not having the men to spare for anything else.

"I'll contact you when it's good to strike." I hang up before he can respond.

I smirk into the night.

"I'm not a fan of puppeteers-

But I've a nagging fear,

I'm the one that's pulling at the strings!

Someone terrible will take you down

In our own town,

What a terrifying work of art~!"

I vanish quietly, leaving behind my oh-so-slightly twisted lyrics.


	31. Chapter 31:Fry and GrillCardin Tripped

Chapter 31:Fry and Grill to Hart's Content

AKA

Cardin Tripped

Author's Note:Really, Guest? Spend a few chapters with Hart being pissed off because to his knowledge it's 100% _his fault_ that Blake got kidnapped and his getting pissed/depressed over it and it's getting old?

And yes, Blake would pretty much qualify as his best friend.

* * *

A few days passed. Weiss managed to finagle her way into a full barrel of petrol, in fact, refined petrol! Not very refined, but better than the first gallon of the stuff I'd worked with.

I immediately broke it down into half-liter portions and mixed in the agar. Perhaps not the most sophisticated of gelling agents, but probably the easiest to acquire. I don't want anyone to figure out napalm but me and mine.

Let's just say I felt a lot safer with 70 liters of napalm in my inventory.

Sure, the stuff violates the first Maxim(Pillage, THEN burn), especially if I overuse it, but on the other hand, it's covered by Maxim 6(If violence wasn't your last resort, you failed to restort to enough of it) and 37(There is no 'overkill'. There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload'.).

Though...maxim 34 might be against it? I mean, it'll leave plenty of scorch marks.

(I also got a few levels in Chemistry.)

The day before I got the napalm, however, DC's scroll rang. I picked up, making sure the voice scrambler is on before I spoke. "Who is this?"

"We hear you may need some muscle."

Ah, so this is the game. "That may be the case." I allowed. "And in the hypothetical case that you could provide me with such, what would be your price?"

"In such a instance, I'm afraid we'd have to charge 5 thousand lien, with half up front."

I countered quickly. "Five thousand, no front, but a 1000 lien allowance for extra gear immediately. The mission is to make sure that the Huntress is safe. A further 2500 if she's safe AND you either kill or capture Torchwick."

"And in this hypothetical case, what would we need the extra gear for?" The voice asks.

"Hypothetically, another who will be present has gas weapons. While this hypothetical gas may be sublethal for those who have Aura, difficulty breathing and seeing could render you less effective in combat. Thus, it would, in the case that I was hiring mercenaries for this engagement, be advisable to purchase airtight goggles and Dust breathing apparati." I respond smoothly.

"These terms would be...acceptable." Admits the voice on the other end. "Understand that we would be giving you a deal, however. We're not exactly fond of the White Fang, and hearing about what they may or may not have done..."

I smile grimly. "I may have planned a diversion that will hopefully be able to pull some away, or delay some reinforcements." I say. "All I would need is for them to contact her friend and them to contact me before I can set it in motion."

I can hear the smile in the voice of whoever's speaking on the other side. "Divide and conquer, then?"

"Indeed. I would be happiest if the reinforcements they might send never arrive, but that would not be crucial. Those in charge of the hypothetical diversion might become useful tools to aim at the White Fang in the future, as distasteful as I find them, so I would prefer that they survive."

"There may be a sniper we subcontract to sometimes. If you added a extra 2500 up front, we could theoretically hire him to keep overwatch on them."

"2000 more up front."

"Agreed."

"If you do not disappoint me in this little thought exercise of ours, I may have a position for you in the future. A nice, cushy training job for a few of you."

There's a pause, and a humorous tone in the response. "The only one of us who ever disappoints is Peter, and that's only in the bedroom."

I chuckle softly. "Good. Where can I contact you with more details?"

"It's hardly good when you have to put up with the bitching of whoever he managed to talk into bed." I hear the barest mumble and chuckle a little louder. They give me a number.

"Farewell. Don't let Peter hear you talking like that." I let them laugh for a second before ending the call.

* * *

"Excuse me, where is your teammate Blake, miss Schnee?"

"Um-"

I cut across her quickly. "There was a bit of a argument. Things got physical. It's a bit of a sore topic." I pause. "We're looking for her so we can apologize and bring her back as soon as possible."

"I see. Would you like our assistance finding her?"

"NO." Oobleck flinches slightly at my vehemence. "It's our screwup. Sending someone else to look for her sends all the wrong messages." I pause, then fix him even more firmly with my gaze, activating Combat Trance for a second and noting his eyes narrowing slightly. "If we sent anyone else from Beacon to look for her, she may never return to Beacon. She has problems with being cornered."

"I...see." Oobleck responded slowly. "I'll ask the others know to give you until next week to find her, but then we'll have to start our own search."

I sag slightly in relief.

He leans forward.

"And in the future, Mister Greyhart...cover stories work better when it's the *leader* who gives them."

I instantly stiffen, along with every other member of my team. FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK HE KNOWS SOMETHING IS WRONG.

He straightens up and takes a drink from his thermos, moving on with the lecture. Nobody else that day comments on Blake's absence except for frowning at our team.

At least, none of the professors.

Even with Gamer's Mind keeping me stable, I feel like my mind is frayed at the edges. Like Death said, the only thing I've ever truly lost in my life is my family's cats. I don't even like cats! Bastards wouldn't stay out of my room!

I take a seat in a corner of the cafeteria, scanning the room idly. I even activate Wolf's Fang to give me sharpened senses. I...I admit I probably don't need to be paranoid, nothing happened in Beacon...but really, this feels like a Hogwarts type place at the moment.

And we AAAAAAALL know that Hogwarts was 'the safest place in the world'.

"Ow, stop it!" I hear.

...

Two things hit my mind at the same time as I glance over.

'Is that a Australian accent' is shamefully one.

The other is 'what the fuck is that asshole doing?'

I take a deep breath, stand up, and set both my hands in front of me, summoning Cerberus into my grip. I switch it over to Claw mode.

I take aim and fire once, twice. The cafeteria grows slightly quieter for a moment, eyes starting to lock on me. The girl whose bunny ears he's pulling on has noticed me, eyes wide.

I leap into the air and trigger the retract, soaring through the air.

Halfway to my target, I release my breath in a mighty roar. "CARDIN WINCHESTER!"

His grip reflexively loosens and he instinctively turns. The girl takes the opportunity to duck deftly away.

He makes eye contact with my body just a second before I make knee contact with his chin.

My knee carries his body for approximately five feet before he slips off and arcs down to the ground near a wall.

A wall that I immediately slam face first into.

I peel myself off and out of the wall, quickly tossing a Knit Flesh at myself before reaching down to grab Cardin by the gorget of his armor.

"If I ever see you lay hands on a woman of any age, species, gender, or any other qualifier without her consent again, I will hurt you in at least one way that Aura will NEVER heal." I hiss in the dazed teen's face. "Do you understand?"

"The itsy bitsy Arach-" He starts to sing, dazed

I slap him.

"Wha?" He manages.

"Do. You. Understand?"

"Yes! Understand! Comprehende!"

"Good." I put Cerberus in my inventory just as Ms. Goodwitch storms into the cafeteria.

"What exactly is this?"

"He tripped. I was helping...him up." I say laconically.

"...I tripped." Cardin agrees reluctantly.

"Oh?" She asks archly before turning to ask someone wearing sunglasses.

"He tripped. He helped." The girl confirms, fidgeting slightly with her beret.

Glynda's lips twitch slightly. "I see. And do you think he'll be less...clumsy in the future?" She waves her crop, repairing the wall.

The girl smiles viciously. "I think he's learned to watch who, er, where he steps in the future."

Looking around and seeing no indications that anyone here's going to contradict this story, Glynda sighs and smiles ruefully. "Very well. " She shakes her head and leaves the room.

Casually, as if nothing had happened, I brush off my knee and walk back to the table I'd been sitting at. I glance over to Cardin, who's totally staring at me, and press my index and middle fingers to my eyes and flick them over to him.

'I'm watching you.'

{Hurray for excessive use of force!}

Psht, he's a Huntsman. He'll learn to deal.

Hey, that girl with the beret is approaching!

"That took a lot of guts, kiddo." I quirk a eyebrow and she elaborates. "You know...'helping' that asshole...trip." She smirks.

"Actually his name is Cardin, not Trip." I respond with a smirk of my own.

"Well, I'm glad you helped that asshole Cardin trip." She chuckles softly before sticking out her hand. "Coco Adel."

"No, no, I'm pretty sure I'd remember helping Cardin trip someone with a name as pretty as Coco Adel." I retort-flirt, taking her hand and shaking it. "My name's Greyhart." I decide to throw in a reference to Harry Potter. "Grustlon 'Use-My-First-Name-And-Die' Greyhart." Or was that a fanfic?

"Ooh, the wolf has fangs~" I blink and check my teeth. Shit. I change them back and give her a wide smile, flashing my suddenly-not-canine teeth at her.

"All the better to..." I pause, resisting the urge to blush as I adjust what I'm about to say. "Eat you out with, my dear." Shameless flirting for the win!

There's a pause and I think I've gone too far for a moment from the reddening of her face, but then she bursts into a roar of laughter, slapping her knee.

As she calms down, she pants out, "Oh, oh my god, you got me, you got me good. How did you even do that?"

"Magic." I say with a deadpan, taking a few sips of my water. The best part of having magic? You can bullshit people by saying 'magic' without actually lying.

"Well, Cani-Nova, if you ever find yourself in the doghouse, I'm sure we can find room for you in our dorm." I hmm, taking another sip. "In my bed, for instance." I choke, managing not to spit it out. "I'd bunk with Vel, obviously~"

"G-Getting me back for the 'eating you out' comment, hm?" I quirk a eyebrow as I catch my breath.

"Yeah. By the way, I actually came to say thank you. Vel wouldn't let us do anything about it. Anytime we try she actually intercepts us. Says she doesn't want to make trouble for anyone. We've been trying to talk her into being a little more assertive."

"I-" My phone...scroll starts playing a song I set.

"Iiiiii'm a member of the midnight crew

Iiii'm a night owl and a wise bird too,

Home with the milk in the moooorning, singing the same old song!"

I freeze.

"I'm sorry, I need to take this." I move away quickly

"Rise with the moo-*click*"

"Where and when, you bastard." I hiss.

"Tomorrow at midnight. A mile due west of Beacon. There's a condemned aircraft hangar."

"As in, the next time midnight hits or the time after that?"

"The latter. I suggest you be prompt if you ever want to see your teammate again. *click*"

"So that's where she is." I hear from right behind my ear.

I flinch and whirl, summoning my best effort at crafting a knife into my hand before I see that it's Coco. "What the fuck are you doing?!" I hiss.

A finger taps me on the nose. "Snooping." Coco whispers into my ear.

"I could still stab you, you know." I say, unamused.

"But you won't."

"Why's that?"

"Besides a hero complex a mile wide?" She breathes into my ear.

"Yes. Besides that." I growl.

"Because we...can help."

* * *

"I want it to go on record that this is a terrible idea." Weiss states flatly.

"I don't think your friend approves of us, Mister Greyhart."

I'd had the mercenaries meet me, with instructions to claim that a 'mutual friend' had sent them and they were to follow my command as long as it wasn't suicidal or anything.

They were ten strong, and if any of them were even close to Huntsman level fighters would instantlly turn the fight in our favor.

"Look, the last thing Torchwick would expect is for a bunch of goodie-goodie Huntsmen in training to go for hired guns. On the flip side, if we talked to a real Huntsman, well, that he's looking for signs of." I explain quietly.

"But..."

"He's right." Coco cuts across Weiss. "You don't play the game the way someone like Torchwick expects you to. Instead, you flip the table. If we had gone to a full-fledged Huntsman, he may have hurt Blake." She pauses. "That said, I suppose you have a plan?"

"First, we get Blake out." I state. "I go in first, make the exchange after checking if they're really giving us Blake or if it's a fake. If it's Blake and we get her out, I'm burning the place to the ground, the rest of you are on overwatch to make sure nobody escapes. If it's a fake, I gas the place. Aura should protect against any lasting damage, but it'll temporarily blind and disable, or not so temporarily disable in the case of those without." One of the mercenaries clears their throat. "Hm?"

"Could we skip straight to gassing instead of burning?" They ask. "Since there were no stipulations in our deal about looting, we were hoping to get the chance to pick the place over."

And that explained why they were quite so affordable.

"Half split on Lien and Dust, I get first pick of anything else, then we alternate picks."

"Agreed." They nod.

"...Excluding the Dust I'm going to pay as ransom, which I get back."

"Acceptable."

"Anyone else? No?" I glance around and confirm that nobody else has any questions. "Right. Everyone who isn't on my team is to hide as near the airfield as they think is sa-"

"I'm sorry I'm late, Friend Ruby!"

...Wat.

I turn and instinctively Observe the interloper.

[Penny Polendina level ?

No Strings Attached

Combat Ready

T #$h#d B* T!e V(*D]

AGH! MY HEAD! How did that even effect my head? It's just a dialogue box! It cut off after that weird text, so I hit her with another Observe

[$o#c #! # $h# #i!]

My head, and the text both got worse. AAAAAAAGH.

Not even remotely ominous. Nope.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

"Friend Ruby said there was some sort of trouble!"

Actually, Penny is...ringing a few bells. And with that unidentifiable level, she's probably a stronger fighter than any of us are.

Still, I have to try. Also, keep up appearances

"You don't look much like a fighter, miss..."

"My name is Penny Polendina, and I'm combat READY!"

That reminds me.

She had THREE TITLES.

What.

"Okay. Uh, miss Penny...You do realize you aren't obligated to do this in any way, right?"

She gives me a slightly cold look. "I do apologize, I must have misheard what you just said. Did you just say that I DON'T have to help my friend, and imply that I should not?"

I raise my hands in surrender. "I just don't like the idea of dragging any more unrelated people than I already have into this." Especially one that cute.

"But I am related to this! If Blake is hurt then Friend Ruby will be hurt, and if Friend Ruby is hurt then I will be hurt!"

...

That...was a surprisingly mature outlook from someone who behaved so erratically.

"...Very well." I state. "But if you have a sustainable long-range option, I'd rather you use it than get up close with these people."

She stiffens slightly and says, almost mechanically, "I am best suited for short-to-mid ranged engagements, but capable of acting as mobile artillery." She cuts herself off there.

"When you say 'artillery', do you mean in terms of range or potential collateral?"

"No, I mean in terms of range and potential collateral."

"Belay that, then. Be careful." I pause. "There is likely a reason why they chose midnight. We should expect them to cut the lights if and when we engage combat. Most of their mundane combatants are likely members of the White Fang."

I pause, my vision sweeping over the 7 huntresses, 4 Huntsmen and 1...Probably-huntress.

"I will not ask any of you to strike with lethal force. But if you do, understand this:These assholes deserve it. I will ask that we each choose to hold our judgement until after Blake is safe annd we're back at Beacon."

I pause again. "Lie Ren. Yats... I'm sorry, I don't think I can pronounce your name, so just...you there. Please step forward." They walk within a single pace of me. I pull out and pass four bottles of Napalm to each. Each one has a small packet on a rag attached to it. "Squeeze the packet hard, then let go of it quickly and throw. This is explicitly only to be used on anyone with Aura. These are...rather extreme weapons, frankly."

Ren quirks a eyebrow. "How so?"

"Fire Dust will ususally wash over you and then fade. It hurts, but it doesn't last if you have Aura. This doesn't fade. If you break the bottle on someone, the flammable gel inside will stick to their skin and burn at temperatures just short of those that would melt steel." Good napalm would burn in excess of steel melting temperatures. This was not good napalm. "They are dangerous to carry, I will understand if you choose to return them." They both shake their heads gravely.

"Anyway, if they cut the lights...Er, who here can function in the dark?"

Fox, Velvet, and Penny all raise their hands.

"Right. You three will take point for a minute while their eyes adjust to the darkness. Then...Weiss, you have anything good for generating light?" She nods. "Do that at levels that owuld normally be blinding. Call out some sort of warning, we need a code for it so they don't figure it out and shield their eyes. We want as many of them incapacitated as possible."

I pause. "Anything else we should cover?"

Nobody raises any points.

"Right. Let's go."

-Neo's viewpoint, 11:55 PM-

"They're going to be late." Roman puffs on his cigar

Neopolitan Spumone scowls slightly. As if. Really, Roman, to think that they'd be late with something like this on the line?. "Hmph." She responds, voice slightly muffled..

Fifteen seconds later, there's a knock.

"Enter." Roman responded, casually gripping his cane and taking another puff of the cigar. All of the thugs are outside of this room-Roman knew that the ruse couldn't possibly be sold with them in the same room.

*Damn, I gotta get me some of that.* She thinks to herself as she looks at the male here to pay ransom. He's kinda hot, and if he has any carnal talent, well, he'd make a decent toy.

Maybe if she could pull this off, she could play with him, just for tonight?

His eyes trace over her body for a minute, and he speaks.

-Cardin's POV, 1155 PM-

Cardin Winchester was in good spirits. Okay, so this was shady as all fuck, but he had his team solidly behind him! They all had their own reasons of course, but it boiled down to all of them being willing to hit the White Fang hard and fast.

His team gets into position. He glances around to make sure everyone's ready. Then, he knocks, waits a second, then swings his mace at the front door, blowing it off the hinges and into the idiot standing behind the door, reaching out to open it.

Fucking animals were stupider than he'd thought!

They hear someone frantically saying, "We're under attack by four junior Huntsmen! Send aid immediately!" He glances over and is about to move on him when his head explodes into a showev of gore.

Odd. He glances around to see a hole in a window and a glint of metal from far away.

"Sniper, possible friendly!" He calls out.

They hack and smash their way through the White Fang, with the occasional grunt simply up and exploding into gore.

In less than 5 minutes, they cleared the base.

As clocks began to strike midnight in Vale, Cardin opened a door to check for Fangs and instinctively staggered back.

"I, ah, um, I'm sorry!" He slams the door shut before breathing.

...Okay, he was a crass jackass, but that doesn't mean he just walks in on naked chicks!

"...Wait, what?"

-Hart's POV, 1156-

My eyes sweep over Blake, who's tied to a chair and gagged. Still, I'm fully aware that illusion magic is somethhat that has to be safeguarded against, even if they don't call it that here. I try a Observe.

[Neopolitan Spumone Level 130]

"Where is she, Torchwick?"

"MMPH!" 'Blake' says.

"What are you, blind?" He sneers. "She's right there!"

"Oh, there's a girl there, but that ain't Blake." I pause, then baldly lie, "Blake had a freckle on the right of her nose."

"Surely you must be mistaken. Look again." I grin as I look and see it.

"There's the thing-there is no freckle."

I pull out one of my pistols and point it at the not-Blake, who shatters, revealing a pink-haired girl. She brandishes a parasol.

"So tell me, where is she?"

Roman clucks at me. "While I am impressed by your perceptiveness, I'm not seeing my dust."

I roll my eyes and de-inventory the barrel of Dust which he cracks open, then nods. "She's in a warehouse in Vale."

...Oh no.

The radio in Roman's pocket clicks on. "We're under attack by four junior Huntsmen! Send aid immediately!"

...

"Let me guess." I say blandly. "That call just came from a warehouse..."

"In Vale." Weiss finishes for me. I blink in surprise.

"I was expecting Yang or Roman to finish that sentence.

"Guh!" Roman growls. "Fucking animals can't do ANYTHING right."

"I have a question for you, Roman." I say quietly. "Are you calling them animals because they're Faunus...or because you don't actually like any of this? Can you truly say you're any better than them?"

Roman simply smirks. "Ah, just like the little goody two-shoes I expected."

I blink.

I blink again.

"You honestly think that I am a 'good guy'?" I ask.

"Um...yeah. What with being a huntsman and everything, kiddo?"

"I'm not a good guy. Hell, Huntsmen aren't good guys." I pause. "Rather, some are, some aren't. The job of a Huntsman is simple. To track and kill monsters." I pause. "I'm not a good guy. I'm a executioner."

I raise the pistol into the air and fire three shots, then switch the barrel. Everyone in my group scrambles for their rebreather and goggles as I call the rebreather onto my face. At least a hundred members of the White Fang flood in, though the fumes make them choke on the air.

[Borderline Asthma has been negated by Dust Rebreather!

Dust Rebreather has granted the status effect, A Breath of Fresh Air!]

I tap my lapel and my armor slides into place, the helmet clicking over my face and shielding my eyes from the fumes.

"AN' 'E WIH THOW NYO MYRTHY!" I bellow, pulling out a Napalm bottle and crushing the Dust packet. I lob it into his face, but he whips his cane around to break the bottle.

So instead of his face being set alight, Roman's right arm and legs are covered in the burning napalm.

I ignore the sounds of battle around me, activating Combat Trance despite my awareness that with the rebreather, it's on a strict time limit. I can't exactly drink through the rebreather, after all.

I call Knight-Night and the Sword of Beowulf into my hands. The latter I swing to parry only, the sheath sparking whenever it's struck, and the former I strike witth fiercely. Roman's trying not to scream, and is clearly more than a little preoccupied with his arm being on fire as he attempts to defend against and counter my onslaught.

The pink haired, admittedly cute girl looks between racking coughs as Roman cries out, "Neo! Help me!".

She shrugs in a 'what-can-you-do' fashion, looks at the bruser and reaper both facing offf against her, and shatter-ports away.

"NeEEEEEEAUGH!" I had just kicked the distracted crook in the crotch, and he'd responded by dropping the cane to clutch at his crotch.

With both hands.

Now BOTH of Roman's hands, AND HIS CROTCH, were on fire.

"Oh dea'" I comment around the rebreather. "Luks like 'ou should be moh cahful abou' th' whoahs 'ou schleep wi'!"

Get it? Burning crotch?

{Dude, that was sick! I love it!}

[10/10 for sadism, 4/10 on the joke.]

* * *

As it turns out, after a group went off to fight CRDL, only Neo and Roman and one other with Aura were there to fight. Between setting Torchwick on fire(he was currently moaning in agony, covered in second degree burns after his Aura gave out) and Neopolitan apparently abandoning him...Let's just say that having 23 people there was a little bit overkill.

Still, there's no kill like overkill.

Thankfully, the gas didn't explode; i must not have let it sit long enough out of inventory to fully react over to being the explosive kind of toxic gas.

Once the fighting's done, I drop to my knees and clasp my hands.

Ruby rushes over, and Penny swiftly follows. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just...praying. Praying that my choices were right, that I didn't just fucking make a massive mistake that ends with Blake hurt." I say softly.

I take a minute.

And then my phone rings...

* * *

Author's Note

No, I didn't forget that they're called Scrolls.

Does that ending seem like a bit of a copout?

Bear in mind the sheer level of preparedness that went into this fight. For it to be anything short of a bloody massacre would be a miracle.

The battle was as follows:

100 white fang mooks

1 Roman Torchwick

1 Neopolitan Spumone

2 other low-level Aura users

VS

10 somewhat trained mercenaries-each of which has aura, because *why wouldn't they?*

Team SX-RG

Team JNPR

Team CFVY

1 Penny Polendina

100 mooks and 4 with aura vs 23 people(er, 22 people and 1 robot) with aura. And that's before accounting for the distraction, which took 1 of the people with aura and 2 dozen mooks away.

And while 76 mooks might be able to hurt 1 or 2 of the 23 with aura, let's run down the list of why that ain't happening, besides lack of coordination and the fact that the gas is making it harder to see and breathe;

CFVY are second year students, they aren't exactly chumps and all likely have decent aura reserves.

Jaune, although jaune, has large aura reserves

Pyrrha is pyrrha. No other explanations needed

Weiss can shield herself with glyphs

Yang pretty much lives to take hits

Ruby. Do you honestly think they could HIT her?

Ren is a master of his Aura in addition to being 'basically a ninja' (which is why he didn't try to do anything to Roman after he was set on fire, clearly)

Nora...is nora, as much as I hate to repeat a explanation. She has the power of Crazy at her side.

And the mercenaries make their fucking livings charging into danger. They aren't going to be chumps.

Basically, Hart ended up loading anti-tank weaponry(23 folks with aura) on a encounter with someone with a wheelbarrow. It works, it's brutal, it's fast, and they honestly didn't stand a ghost of a chance.

Except he wasn't satisfied with anti-tank weaponry, so he loaded up something to sabotage their wheelbarrow(the gas).

So he was crazily overprepared and it turned out to be absolutely unnecessary.


	32. Chapter 32:Consequences

I pick up the phone. Er. Scroll.

"Who is this?" I ask as calmly as I can.

"...Cardin Winchester." I hear a mumble. "And I want to make it very clear that I did not touch this girl."

I facepalm and pinch my nose with my free hand in frustration. "Let me guess. You're at a warehouse."

"...Yes? How did you know?"

"It seems to be a recurring theme."

So.

In my attempt to send the faunus-hating trainee huntsman team to create a distraction to help me save my pretending-not-to-be-a-faunus cat faunus/princess of the faunus(es? Fauni? Fauna?) teammate Blake, I actually sent a faunus hating trainee huntsman team to save my pretending-not-to-be-a-faunus teammate.

All we need is for Nora to be cheating on Ren with the handyman and we have a soap opera.

"What state is she in?"

"Naked. She didn't move, and I heard a muffled growl as I left, so I'm assuming she's bound and gagged. I didn't exactly keep looking."

"You see, this is the problem with having a all male team." I mumble to myself. "Less awkward in the dorms, but you have nobody to send to protect their decency…" I growl. "Okay. I'll figure something out. Why did you call me?"

"I'm pretty sure it was your teammate. The bow and the hair is distinctive."

"...I see. I'm sure that only half of us want to kill you for having seen her in enough detail to make that determination, and the only reason the other half don't is because they're in awe that you managed to see past the fact that she was naked to pay attention to anything else." I growl.

"H-hey now!" Cardin yelps. "It's not my fault that these White Fang bastards decided to strip her! Nor is it my fault that I walked in on her!"

…

"I'm not sure whether to be more amazed that you know the word 'nor' or that your argument makes sense." I deadpan.

…

I really don't like Cardin, and the snark is helping me maintain my composure, okay! Don't judge me!

[Hehehe.]

"Okay, we'll head over there shortly. Look for a blanket or something if you can find it. If you can, cover your face with it, then kind of toss it on her?" I suggest. "Tell her to kind of groan around the gag if she's decent or something."

"O-okay, I'll try!" He gives me the address and then hangs up quickly and I sigh, turning to face...a somewhat motley crue.

Ruby looks like she's going to throw up {Lose her cookies!} [Dude, not cool. That said, she'd better take off that rebreather first.] Not that I blame her; with Bloodhound's Nose active, the smell of roasted pork is a liiiittle overpowering. As a side note, I probably won't look at a ham sandwich again for a while.

Yang's...trying to comfort Ruby.

Ren...is holding hands with Nora and Jaune, who look almost eerily calm right now. Seriously. This is some horror type shit.

Pyrrha looks incredibly horrified and slightly intrigued. [Poor girl almost never fought outside of a tournament. This is practically the exact opposite, and she didn't really like the tournament life.] ...Huh. That explains the...interest.

Weiss looks, well… a little morose. She nudges at the face of the single Fang proper who had had aura with her foot.

Team CFVY...looks like they're in perfect shape. I don't know what's worse-the fact that they look almost like they were expecting it, or the fact that they look quite so jaded and they're only 18.

Coco notices my expression and steps over to me.

"Cani-nova, compared to what happens at villages, this is nothing. Grimm rip people to shreds without mercy." She explains. "Though I will say that this is a...interesting method of waging battle, it's not much worse than having a Beowolf chew your legs off, and considerably less graphic at that"

"...I see." I mumble. I'm not sure if I agree fully with her, but I suppose it would make sense that Remnant, or at least Remnant's Huntsmen and Huntresses would have a somewhat higher bar for 'acceptable level of force' than Earth.

"...I need to talk to our 'glorious leader'." I say before walking over to Weiss I grab her arm and lead her a small distance away. As she opens her mouth to speak, I place a finger over her lips

Then I bare my teeth slightly, throwing my arms wide to indicate the building. "So, welcome to the 'slaughterhouse'! Tell me, how does it feel to look at so many dead 'animals'?" I ask, throwing in the air quotes. Weiss visibly blanched.

"I-"

"Was it everything you hoped for, seeing their 'savage' blood spilled?" I scoff.

"Ha-" I slap my open hand lightly over her lips.

"Shh, not talking time, only listening." I scold 'lightly', fixing my slightly cold eyes on Weiss's. "As a species, we humans mistreat and kill animals for the heck of it." After all, hunting is historically a sport, and not only a lifestyle. I pause. "We kill MONSTERS because we HAVE to. So tell me, Heiress… Did you enjoy yourself?" I take a almost savage pleasure in seeing the blood drain from her face as she shakes her head frantically. "Good! Then, you only killed any of them out of necessity?" She nods. "So you won't be using that language again to refer to Faunus, yes?" She shakes her head and I remove my hand. "Good talk."

She fixes me with a glare before walking off to talk to Ruby and Yang.

[Wow. Stone cold.]

{Hey, say what you will, but their ice cream is the best!}

[...What the hell are you, Neopolitan?]

{I will neither confirm nor deny that assertion.}

My lips quirk up for a split second before I scowl. I follow Weiss.

"Hey, guys, I need you to head to Vale and pick up Blake. Apparently she's gagged, tied up and naked in the warehouse that Roman mentioned, and after the talk I gave him in the cafeteria Cardin doesn't feel comfortable dressing her."

"I can imagine." Yang snorts "...Wait, if she's tied up, gagged and naked…"

"Yes, he obviously saw her. No, we probably shouldn't murder him for it." I say reluctantly.

"C'mon, just one good punch!"

"...Boosted fully by your semblance? In the nuts? Both?" The wince she gives me is evidence enough. "No, Yang."

"But-"

"Now, if he looked more than once, or actually laid a hand on her, then feel free to pummel him into dust." I pause. "But with any luck, by the time we arrive she'll be at least decent and ungagged, if still tied. I told him to enter, with his face covered with a blanket, throw the blanket carefully onto her, then tell her to groan if she was covered properly."

"...Fine. If she says he did anything weird, we beat him up." Yang acquiesces.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Weiss interjects. "You said 'you guys', not 'we'.

"I'll be settling the bill. I'll join you as soon as I can. I think Blake will want a little time wiih just you girls anyway."

I pause.

"And if any of you find Blake sexy, please don't volunteer to be the one to help her get untied or anything." I comment flippantly, smirking and waving before scurrying away from the noises of outrage and denial behind me.

Ah, teenagers.

[You do know you're still technically one of them, right?]

Psht, I'm 19! Compared to a 17 or 15 year old, that's like, a bajillion times older!

…

…

Okay. It's official.

Today sucks.

...No, don't think about that. Ponies!

…

Aaah! Ponies suck even more! Get them out of my head!

[Is Gamer's Mind working? We may have turned it down a little too much. He appears to be going a little nuts.]

 ** _I'm not crazy! You're crazy!_**

Especially you, Chaos.

{Eyy.}

[...Okay, he's sane enough to make references. So I guess he isn't in that bad a shape.]

No.

No, I am in that bad a shape.

But I don't… I don't THINK I'm dangerous to anyone I wouldn't already want hurt.

…

Right?

I walk over to the mercenaries before pulling out two stacks of lien cards

"...Here." I say. "I know Blake wasn't here, but since she's safe anyway and we took down Torchwick...this one's the bonus, this one's the pay, each card in the first stack has 250 loaded on it, the latter has 500."

They quickly scan each card to confirm the values before nodding. "Now we need to loot the place."

"Indeed." I respond.

* * *

A half hour later, we review the loot we've collected, at least, that which has any apparent value to the mercenaries; By mutual agreement, we settled upon a 'lot' system so we could pick items without necessarily losing a massive amount of value.

50000 lien(Sounds like a lot, but not really that much)

50 pounds of Dust and Dust munition

3 All Terrain Vehicles, arranged in lots of 1;

Roman Torchwick's wardrobe, assigned as it's own full lot;

Melodic Cudgel('Hey, it's a gun and a grappler.');

52 guns(the rest were damaged), in lots of 5(whoever took the most lots of guns got the extra 2, if it was even we split the extra);

2 Bullheads, lots of 1;

3 remote detonators, lot of 3;

"Bullhead."

"ATV". He responds.

"ATV"

"ATV"

"Wardrobe.

"Bullhead."

Ah, clever boy. He knew I wouldn't pick the bullhead more than once since there are only 4 of us.

"Cane."

"Guns."

"Detonator."

"Only guns left."

Indeed, that was all worthy of note that had been left at that point. So he got 32 guns and I got 20

In total, I left with a snazzy wardrobe, 25000 lien, 25 pounds of Dust/munitions, 20 guns, Melodic Cudgel, a Bullhead, the detonators and a ATV.

"Somehow, I feel like I got cheated." I comment.

"Heh. Next time, don't think so much about what you're gonna pick, think about what'll happen if you pick something and whether the other has a use for what you want. For instance I know that you don't have need for more than 1 bullhead, so I didn't bother picking it a second time until later."

"...Dammit."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, at leaast you thought to negotiate the loot." He pats me on the shoulder. "You have some way of getting this stuff home with ya?"

I smirk and slap the Bullhead on the windshield, making it disappear.

"I'll take that as a yes. Don't leave your gals waitin'." The mercenary smirks as I blanch slightly.

"Oh god, they're going to have so much to talk to me about… and at me about."

The mercenary chuckles. "Better you'n me, kid."

"Ah, fuck you." I grumble.

Still, after gathering my share of the loot, I start grappling from place to place.

I arrive at the warehouse after about ten minutes of travel time. Surprisingly, the police still haven't shown up.

…

Then again, it isn't even 1 am yet. People might not have noticed the violence.

I double check my teeth before entering. Yep. Human.

…

I need to get Coco to stop calling me Cani-Nova. I'm still not sure how Weiss will react if she learnns about my race-blurring effect.

I stroll through the demolished door. "Guys?" I call out loudly.

"Back here!" I hear Cardin yell. I see him towards the back of the room and walk over. "Your girls just showed up a few minutes ago, I figured we'd stand watch and give them some time alone."

"...We?"

Cardin points to three spots. I glance around and see his teammates concealed in various spots.

"...Clever, but needs work. Faunus have night vision."

"Which is why only one of them is relying on shadows in case more of those an-assholes show up." Somehow, Cardin looks shaken. "That way, they see me standing in the open, one other person lurking in the shadows, don't think to look for the third and fourth. Not that I'm too worried about those sav-sadists." He corrects himself again. I refrain from raising a eyebrow.

On a whim, I pop open my Reputations.

Strangely enough, while Cardin had gone straight down to **Unfriendly** with a **-1500** from being knee'd in the face added to a earlier -500 from my defeating him, sometime in the last hour he just got a **+/? 1500 Reputation towards Team SXBRG**.(with a extra **?750** to me)

…

What?

What the hell happened? We hadn't even got here!

Also, apparently his current relationship status is Uncertain( **Unfriendly/Neutral** ).

This is fucking weird.

I knock at the door Cardin gestured towards. "Hey! Am I good to go through there?" I ask.

"Yeah." I hear Yang call back I enter to see the three girls all trying to comfort Blake.

...Not that she isn't one of the girls or anything!

[Yeah, yeah, we all know what you meant.]

...All? But there are only two of you listening to me!

...Or are there?!

{I don't know… ARE THERE?!}

...Fuck both of you! You're uploading this to Youtube, complete with my inner thoughts, aren't you!

[You can rest assured that neither of us are uploading this to Youtube.]

….

That's awfully specific.

There's a **THIRD** one of you uploading this to youtube, isn't there!

{Pffft!}

 ** _I knew it!_**

…

Dammit, stop sidetracking me!

After seeming to zone out for a minute, I walk over to Blake.

"Hey, so...they didn't do anything weird, right?"

Blake looks up for a second. I note the lack of ribbon. "Well, one of them looked like they wanted to eat me alive, but Torchwick stopped them." She blushes softly.

"...Wait, the Fang or CRDL?"

"Not CRDL!" She says hastily. "I don't think she was a faunus, though."

"Pink hair?" She nods. "She had some kind of illusion-teleportation combination semblance as far as I could tell. Might just have been studying you."

"...No, definitely not just studying me." She blushes a little harder. "But I'm alright. I...I don't want Cardin to see me...like this." Her eyes flick up and I note the lack of a bow.

...Makes sense. Why would they leave the bow on and take everything else?

"Blake…" I pause. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"This…" I pause. I can't really up and say that I have some pre-awareness. "I...Er, 'my friend'"I glance at the door to indicate that Cardin could be listening. 'Scoped out this warehouse the day I told him you were gone. I didn't think you were actually in here, so I 'asked him' to use it as a distraction during the ransoming." I say plainly.

Blake blinks. "Uh…"

"If I'd been a little less scheming, a little more direct, then I could have had you out of here less than a day after you were kidnapped." I say bluntly. "My default strategies are blitzing or preparing, and since I thought Torchwick had you elsewhere, blitzing could have endangered you so I went all in on preparing, which… had it's own consequences I'm sure that these three are just WAITING to talk to me about."

"Well, uh...at least you know your own shortcomings?" She asks. "What...exactly happened?"

"Long story short, used some, er, 'traditional' methods from my world." I hedge.

"...Traditional means uncivilized, doesn't it."

"I would argue that it's more unethical in the case of gas weapons, but napalm does have it's roots in naptha which is thousands of years old…" I muse

"Gas weapons? What, like Air Dust?"

"No." All four of us say in synchronity.

"No it is not." I continue. "Think less 'blown away by a sudden windstorm' and more 'burning eyes, burning lungs, burning nose'. In the more extreme cases of gas weapons, even 'burning skin'." I say bluntly. "In a non-confined space-and there were plenty of holes in the walls for air to leak through-the amount I used was sublethal to anyone with either Aura or a healthy set of lungs." I pause. "That said, I once knew someone so sensitive that perfume was nearly a lethal poison to them. Luckily, your world doesn't have as much pollution-over three percent of people on Earth had some level of that issue, myself...almost included."

"...'Almost'?" Blake asks. She seems to be buying time to process what I'm saying."

"We never could quite tell if I technically had asthma or was just really, reallly out of shape. Even now, it's effecting me, it's just sort of been...abstractified out into my entire existence. Instead of keeling over after I run a few blocks, now I'm just...generally less resillient." I shrug. "It's fucking weird, but I got used to it."

"...Okay. I have one question for you. Did you need to use the gas?"

"...Complicated, that one. If the only step I had taken was to create the gas, it would have been needed." I pause. "If I had created it and made the napalm, it would still have been a improvement." I hestitate. "But the gas, the napalm, and apparently recruiting 19 extra people? Frankly, that last part made the first two utterly unnecessary." I pause. "But I thought it COULD be necessary. That it was possible that they would be smart, and only use people with Aura, even if it meant awakening everyone's aura. I walked in expecting about a hundred men without aura, tops, and eight Huntsman level opponents. I prepared for 100 men with aura. I found 100 men but only 3 with aura." I state flatly.

"...Do you really think that the gas and the napalm would allow us to take on 100 men with aura?" Weiss asks with wide eyes.

"No matter how you slice it, 100 people on the ground hacking their lungs out, unable to see, against 4 people…." I pause. "Even if they tagged us, it wouldn't be before we massacred most of them." I say bluntly. "The napalm adds to that by making it so even a single attack can cripple, Aura or no Aura."

"What's napalm, anyway?"

Death, would you kindly give me a hand giving a totally complete answer here?

[Sure, repeat after me.]

"Liquid fire. Sticks to skin. Burns at about 1700 degrees, celsius, generates a large amount of carbon monoxide, poisoning from which causes causes dizziness, weakness, confusion, loss of consciousness, heart issues and death." I say bluntly. "Exposure has between a 1 to 30 percent fatality rate with immediate treatment, and that's just for the carbon monoxide."

"...Wow. That sounds…"

"Pretty nasty, right? That's nothing compared to what it LOOKS like. Fortunately, I only ended up using it to light Torchwick." I note. "Pictures of napalm survivors from my world are nasty, since they don't have aura to protect themselves." I pause. "Anyway. Yeah. Napalm bad, gas weapons bad, spend more time evaluating situation before applying them and only apply to the truly deserving." Like terrorists. Or Grimm.

"...Right."

"On the plus side!" I chirp. "I picked up a awesome Bullhead and a All-Terrain Vehicle."

Everyone just looks at me.

"...What?"

Surprisingly, YANG of all people smacks me on the top of the head.

"...Ow."

"Do you even have the **_REMOTEST_ ** idea of how long I spent learning to ride Bumblebee?" Yang demands of me. "You want us to let you pilot a fucking BULLHEAD and drive a ATV?"

"...Yes."

"You're insane." She says bluntly. "You're insane, and if you crash that thing you'll fucking kill us."

"Pfft, yeah right. We have AURA, we can survive high falls."

Weiss cuts in. "It's not the fall that'll kill us, it's the Bullhead. The Bullhead adds significant amounts of mass, increasing terminal velocity by a rather large amount. And that's assuming the Bullhead doesn't decide to crumple around us like a tin can."

"...Ah. Er. I hadn't considered that?" I say meekly. "...How much does a Bullhead sell for?"

"Also, those vehicles were almost definitely stolen and thus are shady as all fuck to sell."

"...Motherfucker." I groan. "What the hell am I gonna do with these then, throw them at my enemies?" I grouse.

"You killed 'em, you bought it." Yang replies. "As long as it doesn't pee on the bed, I don't care what you do with them."

I sigh.

"Well, at least the Bullhead isn't a total loss, since it has a mounted set of guns. I can probably do something with that… Anyway, Blake, here." I pull a hooded cloak out of my inventory and toss it over her. It's grey instead of black, but her black hair works well enough to obscure her ears in tandem with the cloak.

"Let's go to the d-No. Let's go home, guys."

I smile wearily.

* * *

BONUS-2 days later

* * *

"Hey, Mom…" Cardin smiles softly, placing a white lily on the ground. "Sorry it's been a while. I had the weirdest day this week… Oh, and by the way, I'll be taking some of the mint growing behind you…"

He begins to speak, ignoring the tears dripping from his face.

* * *

A/N:I must say, I'm a little surprised that at least one of you was willing to believe, right off, even with the inclusion of the standard teenage response to walking in on someone naked, that Cardin was the sort to take advantage.

He's a **bully**. _Not a murderer, not a conman, not a rapist, just a **bully**_.

Is it possible that if not addressed for a long period of time, he might become one of those things? Yes. _Likely_? I'm not sure.


	33. Chapter 33:Sweets to the Sweet

The Spumone Family was a rather influential Valean family. In fact, they even had a Council member, Gelato Spumone.

Neopolitan, however, was actually something of a disgrace. Born to Sap Clam and Penne Spumone, she was turned out of the family a few months after birth, both as a bastard child and as the child of a Faunus, albeit a very much human one.

That would have been the end for Neopolitan, but she was found by a very poor old lady.

Neopolitan learned from a very young age to steal, out of sheer necessity. They would have starved otherwise... If she stole food, she'd tell her adoptive mother that she'd begged for it. Sometimes, she'd 'find' money and insist on claiming that she 'found' it or that it had been 'given' to her, spinning fanciful tales. Her mother hated it, but she knew they'd both starve if she tried to make Neo stop.

One cold winter morning in the middle of a blizzard when she was 12, she had stolen a umbrella along with her usual cash and small amount of food.

Unfortunately for her, the shop she happened to have stolen from had a local crime boss's apartment directly overhead, and the man did not appreciate the police attention a theft would bring to his residence. Four men followed her.

The beating she received nearly destroyed her vocal chords, making it exceedingly painful to speak. They took the money back, but since the umbrella was broken, they mockingly allowed her to keep it. Partway through the beating, without them noticing, her Aura had awakened.

"Since it was worth stealing, here, take this stupid umbrella." One of the sneering men had said.

Her eyes narrowed, becoming cold and flinty as she coughed up a few drops of blood.

(Blood... yes, there would be blood...) She thought to herself. She had begun, yes, merely begun to embrace her criminal lifestyle by then.

The umbrella they'd left in her hands was a simple thing, hardly anything like the parasol she'd make later in her life. Yet it was enough. With duct tape and glue, she secured the handle. With a block of wood, a wooden stick and a pinch of Fire dust, she sharpened the plastic tip(lighting the log with the Dust, melting the tip, then using the stick to scrape around the outside until it was a needle-width point).

She'd killed the first of them silently after a few weeks of training with her Aura. She was already quick on her feet and adept at acrobatics from her years of petty theft. She simply dropped off a building, letting her knees flex to absorb the shock...

And as she fell, the tip of her parasol skewered her target through the chest, slamming into a major artery.

And that was BEFORE she opened the Aura-reinforced umbrella.

She searched him, ignoring the blood spattering her body and coming up with a suppressed handgun and keys.

She went, then, to the crime boss's home, making sure the gun was fully loaded. (Which it was, with subsonic ammunition at that! Naughty~)

With frightening ease, the young girl killed everyone in that apartment, watching their blood run.

She smiled.

Then she stepped into the bathroom to shower and change into her clean clothing. This set would need to be burned.

* * *

Neo drags herself out of her reminiscence to pay attention to the video she was busy pulling up on her scroll. She was sprawled across her bed as she stared at her scroll, dressed in nothing but black, silken lingerie.

...

Huh, he wasn't so cute a month ago...

Regardless, she has a name.

Greyhart. Grustlon(blech) Greyhart.

..

Hey! He said something!

Luckily, Neo can read lips. She sets the speed lower and rewinds a few seconds.

...

Oh. He's into puns. Or maybe he's just pervy?

She can deal with the second. Heck, she LIKES the second.

The first one, however?

Well, she'll have to train him out of that~

Honestly, though, she isn't sure if she'll be able to truly take him as a slave and have that...DELICIOUS sadistic streak of his stay intact. She might settle for taking him as a new partner! Roman never really had that spark of cruelty she found oh so desirable anyway. And the way things were going, well, it looked like she needed a new partner-in-crime anyway...(Or perhaps she'd try 'turning over a new leaf'? Let it never be said Neo can't see the way the wind blows. If her staying alive is more likely to happen on the side of the law, she's willing to take that side, even if she finds it distasteful.)

The day before, she'd snuck into Beacon and quietly drugged one of the quieter girls in the school before taking her place to stalk (er, OBSERVE) Greyhart.

It was a interesting experience. None of that sadism she'd seen in him was there. None of that cold pleasure he'd taken in every wound he'd inflicted was there when he made a comment that happened to cause someone pain.

Even in combat class, he seemed to feel no real drive to relish in his opponent's pain.

And that was what bothered her the most about him, both in disturbing her and making her hot and bothered.

On the one hand, that ruthless protectiveness and vindictiveness he'd shown was perhaps the hottest thing she ever saw, and to be honest imagining him acting that way because he was protective of HER made her heart(and something else) melt.

On the other hand, she was disappointed to see that he hadn't let that seed of sadism truly blossom.

...

She supposes it hardly matters. He can see through her illusions, though it seems he isn't great at it as he hadn't noticed her yesterday.

But he'd hardly fail to notice that his GIRLFRIEND was constantly wearing a illusion.

That thought is both heartbreaking and makes her feel like several icecubes had been shoved into sensitive places, and not in the kinky way. She flounces off her bed in a huff, stashing the scroll somewhere intimate before putting on her outside clothes.

Fuck this.

She's going to Junior's.

* * *

Her first meeting with Roman Torchwick had been...interesting, to say the least.

He'd walked in the room as she stepped out of the shower. He swept his eyes over the scene, taking in the dead bodies and Neo, who was naked and blushing hard. He walked over to one of the clean chairs and propped his legs up on the table in front of it, ignoring the corpse two feet away from his feet when he does so. He lit a cigar and held it to his lips as she stared at him in shock, covering herself with a towel quickly.

He exhaled sharply before he spoke.

"Have you seen my fence, kiddo? Red hair, about this tall" He gestured about 5 feet above the ground with his cigar offhandedly, "wears a stupid snake necklace?" He pointedly ignored the fact that the corpse a short ways from his feet matched every point of that description.

Neo was about to nod, the gave a exaggeratedly nonchalant shrug.(As nonchalant as someone embarrassed by being naked can be, anyway.) 'Who, me?' Her body language screamed.

Roman snorted softly. "Well, the way I see it, I can be down a fence and up one partner, oooooor I can be down one fence and the world can be down one upstart kid. I think we both would prefer the first option." Roman looked to be about 16 to Neo's 12. "You don't look like you've spent much more than a week out of the gutter in your life. Work with me and I can guarantee that you won't go more than a day or two without food in a year as long as you stay on with me."

...That was a enticing offer, she had to admit. Still, she was still...naked, so she shrugged, held up her clean clothing and slammed the bathroom door pointedly.

Roman had simply chuckled, knowing he had her.

* * *

She'd quietly opened a trust fund for her adoptive mother. While it wasn't safe to go back to her, she was so thankful for everything she'd done. Since then, she's been funneling a significant amount to her mother, who still knows better than to ask how she got it.

...

Admittedly, deep inside she wishes her mother could be proud of her. That she could be something she could be proud of.

But at the end of the day, she really was just gutter trash, was she?

She stares at her drink.

"Is that an awfully interesting cup you have there, miss...?"

A pink and a white eye flash up to meet a set of hazel eyes.

"No." She murmurs softly. It hurt her throat less to speak softly. The damage only caused pain; it had not actually changed her voice, except from disuse. Her Aura awakening then had not fully healed it, only preventing disuse from causing her voice to atrophy. And so her voice had a almost ethereal quality to it, enchantingly beautiful and yet barely there. She chooses to ignore the question of her name.

Those eyes glitter slightly in response to her answer. "Well, that will not do, then! Surely a lovely lady like yourself deserves nothing but the most mesmerizing of glassware!" He raises his voice. "Hey! Junior! Fetch two sets of your finest glassware, and give the lady a cup of whatever she wants and me one of your finer scotches."

-Hart's POV-

Aaaaah, what the fuck am I doing? Why did I decide to flirt with the girl who was maybe going to rape my teammate while I'm in disguise?

{Because you know Blake would have probably enjoyed it, or at the very least enjoyed the idea of it?}

Okay, one, fuck you, Chaos, I'm pretty sure that even in anime(which RWBY technically isn't) people don't enjoy being raped unless they have SERIOUS rape fantasies, and in those instances they need equally serious mental help.

Two...I don't actually have a response to the latter. It honestly wouldn't surprise me from the descriptions of some of the books she reads that I've Observed.

But still! She's a bad person and I shouldn't be doing this.

...Why am I doing this again?

[Because I offered you a Quest?]

Oh.

Right.

The Quest.

[Redeeming Remnant:A Sweet's Dreams

Convince Neopolitan Spumone to abandon the forces of darkness and the path of crime!

Bonus Objectives:

Encourage Neopolitan's Interest

Make out with Neopolitan

Go on a serious date with Neopolitan

Recruit Neopolitan for the Twin Suns

Rewards:Improved survival rates for everyone you care about when [REDACTED], +1 potential love interest

Bonus rewards:

1-3:Increased relationship with Neopolitan Spumone, improved romance with Neopolitan Spumone

4:Improved efffectiveness of the Twin Suns, significantly improved survival rates for everyone you care about when [REDACTED]]

I'm at least 70% sure you're fucking with me, by the way.

[Not on a official Quest, bucko. It's always better to convert a enemy than to kill them.]

Yeah, as long as you aren't a Dumbledore about it. I played Age of Empires DS, I know that Monks are OP if you can get their Conversion to proc.

...

Oh, the drinks are here!

"...What's that?" I ask curiously.

"Sweet Supreme*. Named it myself." Her ethereal voice sounds.

"What's in it?"

"Ten parts honey. 85 parts mango nectar. 5 parts everclear." Her soft voice sounds a little smug now.

..."Damn, I want one of those." I mock-whine. She smirks victoriously as she takes a sip of her drink, letting out a exaggerated moan of rapture.

...

You sexy, twisted fucker. I pout at her and take a gulp of my scotch, doing my best to ignore a sudden, unexpected tightness somewhere.

-Neo-

My smirk widens when I see his conflicted discomfort.

To be honest, the cocktail leaves a rather noticeable amount of honey at the bottom, but it's alright. That just means that I get to spoon it up afterwards~

This guy's a little fun to tease, to be honest, even if it won't take my mind off my fated man also being one who almost definitely hates my guts.

-Hart-

She takes another sip and lets out another moan.

Goddammit, man! Get a hold of yourself! You know better than to stick your dick in crazy!

...

Even if you're more attracted to the idea of a Yandere having her eyes on you than you'd care to admit.

...

And even if crazy also usually happens to be really, REALLY good at sex...

...

And even if crazy is really, really hot...

...

What was I saying about crazy?

[Not to stick your dick in it?]

Psssht, that's crazy talk.

Jokes aside, it's probably a bad idea to have sex with the villain until I can confirm whether sane or not.

"So, what brings you here?" I ask casually. "Since apparently you aren't interested in Junior's exquisite glassware."

She giggles almost unwillingly. "Oh, you know. Relationship trouble." She giggles again when I flinch softly, thinking she's taken. "You know, a few burnt bridges here, a few other things there..." She waves a hand, sipping at her carbalicious monstrosity.

...Burnt. Heh. "So you're single then?"

"No." Her voice is harsh. I blink slightly. "Well... Yes... But I already have my eyes on someone."

"Oho? What kind of person could possibly have attracted the attention of a radiant jewel such as yourself?" I ask flirtily. She blushes lightly.

"Well, he's handsome. He protects what he considers his almost happily-like he's glad for the excuse to cut loose." I choke on my scotch. "He's...rather resourceful... Persuasive..." She sighs dreamily as I stare at her.

"Junior! Another drink. I'll have what she's having." I call out before returning my gaze to Neo. "He sounds...rather unusual." I say slowly. Her gaze narrows. "N-not that that's a bad thing! If those are traits you like, you're not likely to see them again in that precise combination." I clarify hastily. I WANT TO LIIIIIVE!

She hmms thoughtfully, her elf-like voice tickling my ears. "Yes, I suppose it is a little uncommon for someone to be like that." She says. "Unfortunately, almost everyone thinks in at least one or two shades of black and white, and I'm afraid that I might be one of his blacks." She says, eyes downcast. "...We're enemies, you see."

"...Romeo and Juliet?" I feign not knowing what she's talking about.

"Come again?"

"Family issues." I elaborate. "You know, families that are feuding, you have family members that killed members of his family, he has family members that killed yours, et cetera."

"...I don't have a family, and none of the research I've done on him indicates anything different about him in that regard, so no." She pauses, taking another drink.

-Neo's POV-

Perhaps it's the alcohol speaking, but... I want to elaborate.

"I'm...not a good person. I'm pretty sure he isn't, not with some of the things he said, but I think he wants to be one." I say.

The rugged man in front of me nods sagely. "And you're afraid he'll reject you because of it?"

"...I've hurt people. I almost did something unforgivable to one of the people he seeks to protect."

The man winces. "Surely it can't be that bad." He offers.

I smile ruefully before sarcastically responding, "I guess you're right. I mean, all I did was strip all the clothes off her body with the assistance of several burly men and nearly force myself upon her in several ways." ...Okay, I had a bit too much to drink, didn't I? Then again, something about this man oozes trustworthiness.

The man blinks.

-Hart's POV-

AAAAAAH WHAT DO I EVEN SAY TO THAT?!

[Say you love her.]

"I-" What.

-Neo's POV-

"I-I mean, at least you didn't actually do it, right?" He chuckles awkwardly..

That's...about the best reaction I could have expected, even at Junior's, isn't it?

"I guess."

"...Did she see you?" He asks in a attempt to be helpful.

"Yeah... The plan was kinda to kill him and the rest of his team, then put her somewhere where nobody would ever hear from her again." I swirl my drink helplessly before drinking the last of it and signaling Junior for more.

He narrows his eyes thoughtfully.

"...Blake Belladonna?" He asks.

In a instant I have my blade out and poised at his neck. "Who are you?! How did you know?!" I raise my voice as I oh-so-rarely do above the softest I can make it and still be heard.

He flinches slightly. "E-easy there, miss. I'm currently known by the title of Death's Courier." He strikes as dramatic a pose as he can without being threatening towards me or moving his neck forward or back. Which took some effort, probably. "Delivering packages and information that will lead to people dying or not dying since sometime this year!" He grins a little cheesily at his joke. "As for how I knew...Even if I didn't have a source, she's literally the daughter of Ghira Belladonna and Kali Belladonna, who are in charge of Menagerie." He says bluntly. "And that's besides the fact that Mr. Greyhart asked me to assist him in acquiring ingredients for his kit."

The sword disappears from my hand as fast as it arrived there. "Y-you know him?"

"He's been one of my best friends since before this whole courier thing. Asked me for help contracting some mercs, too." He says.

"C-could you say something on my behalf?" I ask. "I, uh, could maybe-"

"Hold it." He says. "You're not exactly makin' a small request 'ere, lassie" he says in a spontaneous mildly stereotypical Italian accent. "But mebbe we can work somethin' out. I scratch your back, you scratch mine, capiche?" He offers.

"...And what would that entail?" I ask dangerously. While mildly amusing, his accent isn't helping.

"Look, it's simple, you want me to say you ain't such a bad gal, well, then you take steps to be less bad, no? I'm starting a group to help fight the White Fang and the Grimm called the Twin Suns. I want you to be one of my lieutenants, or failin' that, one of my instructors. You join up with me, I talk to Hart, let 'im know you ain't such a bad gal, tell him you were hard up for choices and just don't know when you're takin' a joke too far sometimes. If you're the illusion girl he mentioned-" I nod. "-I tell him that you had to study her clothes to actually pretend to be her. Tell him Torch had a metaphorical gun to your head, that if you hadn't played along he'd have killed you or worse."

"Actually, it wasn't Roman." I say.

"...What?" He dropped the accent.

"...There was a woman with hair as black as night. She threatened Roman, told him if he didn't work with her she'd kill him painfully and if he tried to run she'd make it worse." I state bluntly. "...I... I might consider it, but how would you keep me safe from her?"

"You could be a triple agent." He suggests. "Take her harmless information on the group, return with information on her movements." He pauses. "Of course, I still need a place to set up the base...

I smirk. "As it happens, Roman Torchwick left some totally legitimate, clean property deeds to his niece, Rain Torchwick. Distraught over his death and his crimes, she'll give them to her boyfriend, Mister..."

He blinks.

"...This is where you tell me about one of your fake identities, or create a new one."

"Ohhhhh." He nods in comprehension, before thinking. "Vulcan. Vulcan Geode."

I pause and shrug. "That works...to her boyfriend, Vulcan Geode, to manage for now. What kind of place do you need?" I sort through the documents in my head while waiting for a response.

"...Big. Like, really big." He says. "Doesn't necessarily already have to have separate rooms already. Worst case, it spends a few days as shared barracks, then gets upgraded to having slightly bigger rooms than coffins." He shrugs. "Decently secure, soundproof, preferably with some open space around it".

"I may have something in mind, Mister Geode." My eyes dance merrily.

"I must say I wasn't expecting this meeting to be quite so..." His eyes flick to my drink as his own arrives. "Fruitful."

"...Oh my god, you're as bad as he is." He seems to flinch slightly before pouting.

"Hey! I take offense to that! Parsonomania is a totally legitimate affliction... okay, no it isn't." He wilts.

"Parsonomania?" I ask archly.

"One who makes puns is known as a parsonomaniac." He explains. "Someone with a mania is known as a maniac; thus, the affliction of pun-making is parsonomania."

I giggle softly.

Then I pause.

"When you say 'fight the White Fang', you don't intend to do so with the minimum force possible, do you?" I ask with a light glare.

"Good god no!" He exclaims. "'There is no such thing as overkill; there is only 'open fire' and 'time to reload'." He states. "The only times I intend to show any restraint are when civilians are in the operating area, if we have spies on site to save, or if we have limited available resources and can't afford to apply everything we have."

I let out a breath of relief. "Good. Holding back when you don't absolutely have to is a good way to get killed." I say, taking another drink of my oh-so-delicious cocktail.

Okay, so my name means ice cream. That doesn't mean that the only sweets I can enjoy are, in fact, ice cream!

"Anyway," He says, "I'm afraid that it may take some serious work to actually get him to consider going out with you. He places some value on his teammates, and you'd probably have to convince all of them to...well, less accept you, more not actively hate you." He admits. "One of them should be fairly easy, as Miss Rose is... Neither innocent or naive entirely work here, so I'll say starry-eyed. But their leader, Miss Schnee, is rather abrasive, Xiao-Long is...hot tempered, and Ms. Belladonna is, well..."

"The one I nearly molested." I finish, making him wince.

"That... sums it up nicely." He says slowly. "So yeah. It may not even be possible to get them all to entirely forgive you, but getting each to the point where they won't slit your throat as soon as look at you would help your chances with my friend."

I flip through a few disguises.

"He told me he saw right through your disguise the moment he tried, though not enough to discern who you were." He tells me bluntly. "While that doesn't mean the others would, it does mean you'd have to convince HIM to decieve them, which could get him in trouble with his team."

...And since they were precious to him, that was pretty much a no go. I wilt, dropping the disguises.

"Look, if we're going to work together, we should probably know each other's real names." He pauses.

"...Neopolitan."

"I'm Elijah. Elijah Burning."

* * *

Author's Note:I bet none of you saw that coming when I said the 'book of burning' ;)

*I made this cocktail up on the fly. It sounds UTTERLY delicious, though I believe that according to Leftover Soup, just because it's technically only 5% alcohol doesn't mean it won't hit you like a freight train with a pack of grimm running behind it. Being not of legal age, I have not had the opportunity to attempt to create this; if you somehow track me down and offer me this, I will be somewhat intrigued. If you're a cute girl(...or maybe a very, very cute male who appears to be one ;) ) i might not even scream about you being a stalker! (That is said in jest, please do not track me down and offer me alcohol before 2019 as such would be illegal**)

**...Also, probably just don't track me down. Srsly, that's creepy. And almost as illegal as offering alcohol to someone below 21 years of age who is not your direct descendant by 1 generation. Which, for religious reasons***, despite the whole 'separation of church and state' schtick, is legal. That is, offering alcohol to someone of any age if they are your son or daughter or ward.

***Because apparently some people feel the need to give their children wine that is supposedly the 'blood' of a man who died ~2000 years ago. I don't have anything against Christianity; I just feel the need to put things in perspective**** sometimes. Just remember the next time you look at someone who's Catholic or go to Mass:That's basically ritualized psuedo-cannibalism. Have fun with that :D

****For any aliens reading this:We get around by getting into 2 ton tin cans that are propelled entirely by explosions. Sometimes, when we feel the need to go really far really fast, we get into tin cans that are over 100 tons and are propelled through the air at heights far beyond what humans were intended to achieve at speeds equally beyond our evolutionary and/or god-given limitations. Barring, of course, our cosmic speed, which is thousands of times that of the flying tin cans.

As a side note, a sense of perspective is the last thing a human can afford to have*****

*****May Douglas Adams rest in peace.

* * *

A/N on the A/N:...I went from discussing a interesting drink idea I had to a discussion of stalking to a discussion of cannibalism in religion to a discussion of how absurd our lives are from the perspective of a outsider.

Reviews are going to be interesting for a while. D:


	34. Chapter 34:Straight out of Line

In retrospect, I had perhaps been somewhat harsh with Weiss. Especially since the reason the killing had been quite so brutal was me.

Still, I totally considered what she had said about, and probably to Blake to be utterly over the line. She can fucking deal with a harsh bitch out about how racist she's acting.

Of course, when I spoke I'd still had the cold fire of Combat Trance running through my veins.

I take a seat at one end of Dr. Oobleck's classroom, and Weiss immediately moves all the way to the other. Blake sits next to us, and after a hushed discussion, Ruby and Yang elect to sit in the middle.

Hooboy.

Cardin's tossing weird looks at us, and a glance at Reputation says he settled on Neutral.

…

Actually, more of his odd looks are at Blake. More specifically, the back of her head.

…

I wonder what has him so interested in her hair?

Oobleck's expression seems somewhat glum as he enters the room and takes in the scene. His eyes instantly flick from me and Blake to Weiss.

My personal assumption is that Ruby and Yang decided to make it clear that they're not taking sides in this argument.

I pointedly ignore Weiss's death glares. Okay, so I was wrong to do that. But-and hear me out here-She was MORE wrong!

[Okay Donkey Hotay, let us know when you're done tilting at that particular windmill.]

It's spelled Don Quixote!

[Not on Remnant.]

Ah, brilliant. More racism. A stubborn donkey. Ha. Fucking. Ha.

…

Why did I have to be given a new life on Remnant?! Why couldn't I have some world witth gumdrops and fucking ice cream!

My left eyelid begins to spasm.

I throw myself entirely into writing my notes, ignoring the vicious looks Weiss is giving me.

To quote Abridged Alucard, I'm not apologizing.

And just like AA, if she continues this, I'm going to tilt every picture, poster, and bookcase in our dorm. She seems the type to be a little compulsively tidy.

…

Scratch bookcase. That'd be more of a Blake punishment thing, fucking with the bookcases.

I casually sip on my latest creation.

It's a energy drink. Sorta.

[The Final Deathwish

Ingredients:

30 Assorted Energy Drinks

3 pots of coffee

1 Vial Mamarachne Venom

1 pound of protein powder

Sugar to taste

Combine the energy drinks and coffee.

Distill the energy drinks and coffee to about 1/3rd of their starting volume.

Add protein powder, stirring as fast as you wish.

Add arachne venom. Agitate carefully.

Add sugar. Really, it needs it.]

The result, however, spoke for itself.

[The Final Deathwish, 40 cups(Dose size:1 cup)

75% Aura and Mana recovery

-10% Health

-2000 Health

Trains Consitution at intensity 50 for 5 minutes

Trains Strength at intensity 20 for 5 minutes

Trains the skill Toxin Resistance

Inflicts 5 stacks of Caffiene]

It burns so good.

No it doesn't, it's fucking gross.

Still, I drink it.

Technically, it's a renewable, if hard to renew resource. But on the other hand, given that I'd gotten 30 vials at one shot from Mamarachne…

Well.

I'm not going to run out anytime soon.

The cup I keep it in is decorated with warnings ranging from 'flammable' to 'biohazard' to 'poison'.

In fact, Oobleck pauses mid lecture to scrutinize me.

"...Mister Greyhart, should you be drinking something that requires that many warning labels?"

"Oh, these? Don't worry, Doctor, I just put them there so nobody can claim I didn't warn them." I take a big gulp. "One cup of this stuff has enough caffeine in it to give a horse the shakes, along with a wide variety of toxins that I'm busy building a immunity to. " I take another gulp. "Why, I'm afraid if anyone else was to try it, they would find themselves in rather a bit of pain. As long as no small children try to drink any of it, it shouldn't be lethal or maiming, though."

"...I…" The good Doctor doesn't even seem to understand where to begin on that one. I give him a friendly smile and take another gulp, ignoring the looks I'm getting from around that room. "Would you care to give us a example of a poison in it?"

"Venom from a Queen Arachne." I deadpan.

Doctor Oobleck's jaw flaps a few times. "And you're...drinking it. To build a immunity."

"Why else would I drink it's venom?" I continue to deadpan. "It's not like it has any particular nutritional value."

"...Right." He says before sighing. "Miss Belladonna, if you would, please escort this young man to Professor Peach after class. Inform her that he needs to have a small battery of blood tests run tto make sure he isn't killing or harming himself with that." I raise the cup to my lips only for a thrown metal ruler to lodge itself into the desk near my note-taking hand. "And no more coffee until you've seen her!" He yells.

I shrug and put it down.

* * *

I lie in the bed as all four of my teammates anxiously cluster around me.

Professor Peach looks up. "...I'm sorry."

Everyone flinches, me included.

"I'm afraid his sanity is a lost cause." She deadpans

"Give it to me straight, Doc! Will I ever play the guitar again?" I ask with a shit eating grin when it becomes apparent that she's fucking with us.

"Besides that, he's actually in excellent shape. His Aura is almost entirely full despite the damage that that poison is doing to his system, and there's no signs of organ damage. As long as he doesn't overdose on it, he should be perfectly fine. Though, again, there's nothing I can do for his sanity." Professor peach says with a shit eating grin of her own.

"Aw, I know you love me, Prof!" I joke.

"Only because you've got your head on straight, and this has made me kind of doubt that…" She grumbles.

"You say that now! But what if I get stung or bit by a Queen Arachne in the future! Or a Deathstalker, or a normal Arachne! Then I'll be able to shrug it off."

"...Fair enough." She admits. "That's not the WORST plan I've ever heard, though it would be if it was actually damaging you."

"Great!" Weiss interjects. "Now that we know that the Lord of all Jackasses-" "Hey!" "over here isn't about to fucking die, can we go?" She humphs. "God, I can't believe you two dragged me in here…" She leaves the room. Peach shrugs, then leaves too.

"..." Ruby shakes her head. "We didn't actually make her come." She mumbles almost inaudibly before disappearing out the door with a flash of rose petals.

"I guess the Weiss Queen still cares, huh?" I joke weakly as I stand up, and Yang laughs lightly.

She pauses in the doorway, then closes the door instead of leaving.

"You're hurting her, you know."

I snort softly, only to be interrupted by Yang.

"You are! I know you didn't like what she said to Blake, but she told us-me and Ruby- that she's just kind of been raised around that kind of language and it slips out. She says she doesn't actually believe any of it...except about members of the current White Fang."

"Yang." I raise my hands. "Yang-yang-yang. I think you've mistaken me for someone who gives a fuck." The look I get from her is a little chilling. "She said that to YOU. She hasn't breathed a word of that to me. Blake?" She shakes her head. "If the two of us recieve an apology from her, I'll put thought into my own. Because frankly, while what I did is worth apologizing FOR, at the moment, I don't quite consider HER worthy of apologizing TO." Yang flinches at the vehemence of my tone. "And before you say anything about this destroying the team, I could not possibly be on a team led by someone who thinks that such language is okay to use. If anything, this would be a mere formality."

"I-i...you...you don't even think this is worth trying to salvage?!" She exclaimed in disbelief.

"I do. But first, it has to be salvageable." I say bluntly. "If she apologizes and does her best to improve on that, I will apologize and be more civil."

Yang's fists curl up and she looks like she's about to deck me. I do my best to look bored.

"You know what I see when I look at you and Weiss? I see a stubborn fucking bastard and a stubborn bitch who are too tied up in their own respective prides to do what both of them really fucking want to do!"

I flinch visibly.

"Whatever. If you two TODDLERS are too fucking SCARED of losing a little face to make up when you both want to, then I'm not going to bother trying to convince you." She snarls. "Later."

…

Is...Is that what this is?!

I stare openmouthed at Yang as she storms out.

[Pwn'd.]

{Xiao-Long-Suckers is currently DOMINATING White_Stag!}

Shut up, both of you! This is serious.

Is...is this really all it is? Fucking pride on my behalf and on hers?

"Hey." Blake says. "We need to get to our next class."

Oh, right.

Combat training.

* * *

"I'M GONNA SHOVE CERBERUS SO FAR DOWN YOUR FUCKING THROAT THAT IT DISLODGES THE STICK UP YOUR ASS!"

I hear a whoop and a few cheers from the crowd. Everyone loved to see a grudge match.

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!" Weiss called back with a mocking grin.

Honestly, there was probably no better way to settle this issue. And the Beacon Staff were fucking geniuses.

"BESIDES WHICH," Weiss continued, "I'LL BET YOU COULDN'T TELL THAT FROM THE...OTHER!" She blushes lightly as she makes her retort. It takes a second for her insult to penetrate, then I hear jeers from all the spectators.

"Now, now… Children." Glynda groaned. "Begin."

Rather than give away any of my magic, as angry as I am, I instead elect to use one of my known powers-Inventory. I drop crappy bone knives into my free hand and begin chucking them HARD at Weiss.

Honestly?

I don't care whether I win this one.

It just feels good to take out this aggression on the proper target.

Each knife is caught by a Glyph.

"Is that all you got?!" She calls out. "C'mon, even Jaune made me sweat more than that!"

"Oh, COME ON!" I hear Jaune yell as I level a glare at her.

I grab another knife, focus for a second, then throw it.

She doesn't even bother with a Glyph this time, catching it in her off hand. Mistake.

"DEMI!" I yell.

The knife erupts into a cloud of darkness.

Two Charge runes and a Darkness/Emergence rune lay on the knife. The trigger word was Demi.

"Gah! Wha-"

"Stone Knuckle" I mumble to myself, leaving Cerberus in staff mode in one hand and rushing forward to slam my free hand into Weiss's gut.

"URK!" She staggers back before recovering, stepping forth. Her rapier dances and were it not for Aura, I would have found myself covered in stinging cuts.

I catch her rapier with Cerberus before slamming my fist into her chest.

But then instead of attack again while she's staggered and her blade is tangled with my staff, I drop Cerberus and grab Myrtenaster by the blade.

"What are you…" I slam my fist into her gut and yank the blade from her hands while she's staggered. I hurl it out of the ring, then follow it with Cerberus.

"What-What are you doing?!" Glynda exclaims from the sidelines.

"Come on!" I exclaim, deciding to make a reference. "Let us lose ourselves in the beautiful song of fist against flesh!"

"Oh my god, this is a fucking clown show." Someone in the audience mumbles.

Weiss blinks before smirking and slamming her own fist into my chest. I dismiss Stone Knuckle and we begin brawling in earnest.

Even Glynda seems to be enraptured after that. I'm sure there's supposed to be some kind of time limit, but she never called it out.

At one point, my fist even slammed into Weiss's.

"Give...Up…" Weiss muttered.

"N-never. You hit like a bitch." I growl.

"Yes, but there's one thing you aren't accounting for." She smirks. "My numbers… are bigger than yours! We could do this all day…"

"And I wouldn't be any closer to beating you." I interrupt. "Not that it wouldn't be fun."

We smirk at each other for a moment before we start brawling again.

After a half hour, we're finally interrupted. It's a good thing too. We're both starting to get worn down-not in Aura, but in energy.

As we limp off the battlefield, I tap Weiss on the shoulder.

"W-what?!" She snaps at me.

"I'm sorry." I say plainly. "What I said was out of line. I let my emotions and a little bit of my own guilt overwhelm me and I lashed out at you. I'm sorry." I repeat for good measure.

"...I'm sorry too." She says after a moment's hesitation. "I shouldn't have said those things. To Blake, or to anyone else. Truce?"

"Truce." We shake on it and both of us let out a breath of relief we didn't know we'd been holding.

Both of us knew the other would hardly forget about it immediately.

But the important, and hardest, part had been done.

We had both successfully gotten over ourselves.

* * *

Author's Note:

It seems weird to me how Blake is just like 'yeah ok' when Weiss talks about just not talking about her being part of the White Fang. I mean, Weiss could at least have apologized about her language. Fucking hell.

Author's Shameless Self Promotion:

If you liked this chapter, remember to favorite or follow if you haven't already. Reviews are always appreciated! (Give me the reviews...i need the reviews~)

Additionally, remember that I have a pat-reon! I'm facing a biiiit of trouble right now, and a little extra income could mean the difference between lasting for 2 months if I get kicked out or lasting for 3. A lot of extra income could mean the difference between 2 months and pretty much fucking forever.. :P Not that I'm expecting the latter. My pat-reon is Grubleafeater.


	35. Chapter 35:Insincerest Flattery

A/N:

Wait! Stop! This isn't the first new chapter! Due to a overabundance of inspiration, I've churned out two at once! Don't read this until you've read the last one(even though they cover entirely different areas of Hart's life and thus don't actually conflict…)

* * *

I take a deep breath. I think back to the speeches I've watched from members of the White Fang. I study the crowd. I glance back at Neo(who is disguised as my lieutenant and drill instructor, Mocha, a mouse faunus). Earlier, I had even dumped in 27 points into Charisma, which just barely edged it into 50, granting me 2 skills. [ **Inspire** ] and [ **Virtue's Vestal** ], which made me appear to embody a trait. Essentially, I could choose to radiate a sort of aura of being something I may or may not be. It's similar to Killing Intent, except that it's substantially more communicative than 'i want to kill you' or 'i want to kill someone else'.

I actually attracted a motley assortment of people here, but they're still approximately 75% faunus and 25% human. Assuming that some faunus traits are harder to spot, that's more like 80-85% and 15-20%.

I step up to the podium.

Time to put those levels of **Bait and Switch** to use.

I take a deep breath again and speak.

"Brothers and sisters of the Faunus," I bark out. With a toothy grin, I add a half second later, "and Cousins of Humanity!" As expected, there's a second of tension at my first line and a abrupt moment of relaxation the second one. "I stand before you, not to strike in the shadows, nay, not in fact to strike at all, but rather to ask one simple question. Why are all Huntsmen recruited as children? Surely it is not because it is better or more practical. I hardly think of 12 year old children as being particularly vicious, except perhaps when they've had too many sweets." This draws a few knowing laughs. "I tell you now, there is no reason why we could not begin recruiting earlier, and every reason we should."

I pause. "As I'm sure you remember reading or being told by whoever invited you, we are recruiting for a organization called the Twin Suns. Both support personnel and combatants. Our purpose is twofold." I raise a finger into the sky in a classical heroic pose. "To protect the People from the Grimm, and to dismantle the now-militant White Fang!" I activate Virtue's Vestal to make myself seem more like a true warrior. "Our training will be grueling! Trainee Huntsmen train for less than 2 hours a day owing to the academic requirements they are required to meet. We will have no such requirements, as the majority of our recruits will be adults." I state. "At the end of your training, you will be a warrior able to meet ANY Huntsman in open combat!" I declare. I activate [Inspire], which besides granting those listening and allied to me a +20% Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom buff, along with an instant 5% Aura recuperation, actually made them feel inspired. Which was arguably more beneficial.

Now, I pointedly wasn't saying they'd win, but sure enough they'd be able to stall at the least.

"Until we have trained sufficiently to start taking work, be it volunteer or pay, conditions will be a little spartan." I admit 'reluctantly'. "Still, we will offer you shelter, a bed and food as long as you are training or working with us, along with a modest" Read:Very, very small "stipend. Until the Twin Suns take off, none of us are going to get rich on this, but the money is not the point." I flip Virtue's Vestal to radiate a aura of Ambition. "Nor is Glory the point, though indeed some of us will be hailed as heroes. No, the point...is survival." I flip to Solemnity.

" _ **Brothers. Sisters. Cousins**_." I state. "Without Us, Remnant is balanced on the ** _edge of a knife._** " I watch my awed and enraptured audience. "For you see, each city is dependent on the others. Menagerie for the sheer volume of natural resources it exports, Vale and Vacuo for food, and Vale also holds the most crucial of the Cross-Continental Transfer towers. Atlas, for it's bullheads and military manufacturing power. And finally, but certainly not any less significantly, Mistral for it's commercial manufacturing, arts, entertainment, and, ah, _entertainment_." I wink lightly and receive a few chuckles despite my current Virtue.

"If we lost even one of these, Remnant's outlook...would be **Grimm**." I hear only one chuckle at this pun. Not that I was expecting anyone to find it that funny. "The Grimm like negative emotion. Merely the knowledge that Kingdoms could fall could set off a chain reaction, and that's before the shortages begin." I state bluntly. "There would be attacks, and then people panicking about **those** attacks setting off _**more**_ attacks. Even if no more Kingdoms fell or were even breached, Remnant would be scarred forever."

I pause, surveying my audience.

"This...would **not** be acceptable." I state bluntly.

"Even without infighting, the Grimm are an everpresent threat. But the White Fang are creating additional negativity, both simply by continuing to exist and with each attack they perform. Brothers and Sisters, the existence of the new White Fang causes our cousins the humans to view those of us they are unfamiliar with with suspicion, distrust, or even outright _**hate**_. Not only does this make things untenable for us, but it makes the Grimm more of a threat."

I scowl.

" _ **May the Younger Brother take them.**_ "

I raise my hands into the air as if calling down a benediction.

"But I tell you, **once we strike down the White Fang** , we can begin _rebuilding_ the trust we have lost. I dream of a day when we will be treated as equals. Not out of fear of what will happen if someone is heard to treat us inequally-but out of respect for those of us in the Twin Suns.

"And to our cousins who stand in this very audience-Come! Stand besides us as we forge a path to glory, to a better world, and to the continued stability of our lands!"

I pull out a sword and stab it into the sky.

"And here is the Twin Suns' Battlecry: _**Jamais D'Obscurite!**_ **Never the darkness, for in a world with the Twin Suns, darkness shall have nowhere to hide forevermore!** "

My audience cheers loudly as I pump the sword into the air a few times, though Neo snickers in the background.

"Civilian positions are limited. Please go to your right side to find the forms for normal enlistment, and the left for civilian enlistment. Civilian positions include mechanic, doctor, secretary, weaponsmith, cooks, and janitors. If you think anything's missing, there are miscellaneous position forms available. I promise they will be looked over, though it may take some time to process them all. If you want to offer some form of support, those forms are behind you."

By the end of the day, we have about 100 applicants for the military side, and 60 civilians. I estimate that the warehouse will only hold 75 people, so I enter planning to discard a full half of the military personnel and over half of the civilians.

…

Apparently, there are more than a few failed Huntsmen around. I have 16 applicants who have Aura and a fair amount of training, though obviously not enough to make the cut. I note them down but remind myself that I'll have to verify that they're over 18 or else get parental consent.

The other 34 military personnel I don't actually pick right off. Instead, I decide I'll set up interviews for those slots. I'll pick them based on motivation, physical capacity, and how much we can do for them.

It would be preferable to have fanatics for a group such as this one. Especially since fanaticism may impact the strength of their Semblances. But fanatics who are crippled won't do me much good.

The last part is mostly personal preference. I'd prefer to give as well as take. So those who lack a stable home are prioritized over those who have one. Of course, it also ties in with the first point-Taking people off the street, then feeding and clothing them is a great way to indoctrinate them to a way of thinking. That's why so many churches did that in the old days.

The way I'm indoctrinating them just happens to be undoubtedly beneficial to the world at large. Ahm na' a fookin cultist!

One name among those with Aura catches my eye.

'Natsuko Yamada'

Doesn't Natsu mean summer?

…

Hm.

Well, regardless, if Natsumi Hinata from Sgt Frog was ultrapowerful, and Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail was the same, the least I can do is give another Natsu- the chance to show off their stuff.

I'll keep a eye on her.

I turn to the civilians next.

Mechanic first.

…

Oh…

Oh my.

That's a...interesting...portfolio.

A bit graphic, but interesting.

I page through her references, face deadpan.

...They all mutually agree that while she's fucking weird, her stuff is the best.

Well, what the hell.

It's not like our robots will be the first to have phallic guns.

I pick three decent cooks out from the five who applied. I'll see how they do.

No doctors? Bah. Looks like we'll be relying on the wonders of Aura.

...15 janitors. I pick 2. Move on.

12 secretaries. Daaaaamn. I obviously pick the most qualifieahahahahahaha.

That said, I don't ignore qualifications either. I end up picking a well qualified young lady. Eye candy is important, and not just for my own enjoyment. A pretty secretary puts those visiting at ease.

…

I swear, I'm not just a pervert. I have a brain.

I set the rest of the civilian applications to the side for now and look at the contributions.

Hm. A few hundred lien here, a few dozen there… Offers for discount Dust from a few dust shops when we start really getting moving.. A joint offer from a lawyer and a politician to help move along paperwork to make us totally legit… Wait, what?! Oh, fuck the hell yes!

Okay, so in total, we're going to have a extra 6000 lien in the war chest. Awesome. That should cover food for the first month if the cooks are any good. Just gonna have to get a hold of a bulk food supplier and make sure they don't gouge us.

The Twin Suns is officially in business.

* * *

Author's Note:I've decided to try to keep a 1:1 ratio between Twin Suns chapters and Beacon chapters to reflect Hart trying to balance his work and his school.

Author's Shameless Self Promotion:

If you liked this chapter, remember to favorite or follow if you haven't already. Reviews are always appreciated! (Give me the reviews...i need the reviews~)

Additionally, remember that I have a pat-reon! I'm facing a biiiit of trouble right now, and a little extra income could mean the difference between lasting for 2 months if I get kicked out or lasting for 3. A lot of extra income could mean the difference between 2 months and pretty much fucking forever.. :P Not that I'm expecting the latter. My pat-reon is Grubleafeater.

Author's Note Resumed:

Also! I'm starting another fic and working on Spark the Beacon.

The new fic is going to be called A Terrible Thing To Waste:The Life And Mimes of Blanc Lenoir.

Here's a sneak preview:

I stand up, look around a little and see a black and white wolf with red eyes.

|Uh… Good doggy?| I try to say, only for no sound to leave my lips. |Wait, what? OHCRAP!|

I hold my hands out protectively as it leaps, only for my hands to brush brick and the wolf to slam against the air a few inches from my face and rebound with a whine.

I blink.

I pat the air-bricks a few times in disbelief.

|But… I'm not even French!| I protest. |Wait, let's not get hasty, maybe my power is creating invisible brick walls.|

I hastily curl a hand into a fist with thumb, index and middle fingers sticking out. I wait for the wolf to slam off my barrier again before backing away from it, raising my hand to point at it's eye before dropping my thumb.

Instantly, a sharp 'crack' echoes through the woods and a hole appears in it's face. It drops instantly, dead as I stand there numb. After a second, I raise my hand to my lips to blow on my fingers.

|Bitch, I'm that fast food mime from Dr. Mcninja!| I proclaim.


	36. Chapter 36

Author's Note:

You know what? I need a beta! Unfortunately, right now, I don't have the time to look through people. Anyone interested and who's qualified to be a official beta, feel free to PM me.

* * *

After my speech, I walk into the dorm and pretty much collapse. Obviously, I took all appropriate measures to make sure I don't get identified as Eli/The Courier.

…

Poke.

Poke.

Uuugh, go away...public speaking is exhauuuuustiiiiiing….

Sharp-poke-AIIEE!

"W-what the fuck, Blake?!" I grind out as I roll over, glaring at the girl who just poked me with Gambol.

"Tell me why you pretended to be a faunus." Oh yeah, they figured out that the Courier was me. She pauses. "Also, you just collapsed onto my bunk."

"...That explains why the sheets smelled like perfume. I don't get how you can wear the stuff-your nose is a ton more sensitive than a human's, right?"

"Explanation. Now."

"...Who says I was pretending?" I bare my teeth and activate Wolf's Fang. "These 'ere choppers are a hunnred pahcent leegeeteemate, lass." I drawl. "I jes' don't always 'ave them." I continue in the same drawl.

"Keep that up, and I'll knock them out." She growled. "And what the fuck even are you doing? How are you doing that?"

"One of my skills gives me the opportunity to become a wolf faunus with my teeth being from a wolf. Now, how did you find out?"

"I was at your speech tonight. It was...enlightening, to say the least." She scowls. "You're just taking advantage of them, aren't you?!"

"I should hope you think better of me than that." I say, drawing a wince from her. "And no, no I'm not. I genuinely believe that even if the actual treatment was worse, the opinion of faunus would be higher without the White Fang as it is now. I also believe that a highly visible group of Faunus going out and doing Huntsman work would be a PR dream, leading to better opinions over time."

"...Why haven't you told anyone about this skill?" She asked.

"Weiss." I say bluntly. "Weiss is why. I accidentally left it on a few days ago, so Coco's started calling me Cani-Nova."

"...Who's Coco?"

"Oh, right. Leader of team CFVY, one of the people I ended up recruiting for your rescue." I scratch my head. "...Not that it worked…" I grumble.

"...If you're going to try to hide what you are, you should remember one thing… Nothing lasts forever. I forgot and it led only to strife." Blake tells me seriously. "Now, why did you use that disguise?"

"Can you honestly tell me that the Faunus would be as receptive to a 17 year old human huntsman trainees telling them they can be like Huntsmen, and all they have to do is join, train, beat up the White Fang and defend against the Grimm?" She winces. "Yeah, you get my point. It's far more reasonable for someone in their late 20s who's a faunus and also supposedly not a huntsman to get that message across." I pause. "I doubt I would have recieved 20 applications to join, much less 160. Only 100 military, but still, that's a lot."

She takes a breath. "While you're not wrong...maybe there's a reason they wouldn't?" She asks pointedly. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"...So do I, Blake. So do I. Now, no more talking. Sleep awaits."

"I thought you didn't need to sleep!"

"...Zzzzz…" I pretend to snore before sitting up when Blake pokes me again. "Bwuh?" I act as if suddenly awoken. "Blake? When did you get here?" I joke feebly. She glares at me before huffing softly.

"You're going to get people killed!"

"...I know." I say. "You know what else I know? I'm going to get other people to keep living." I pause. "And the people who'll die… they all know the risks, Blake. Just like those of us attending Beacon." I shake my head. "Is it right to prioritize them over future civilians?"

"You're not a great general! You're not some legendary officer who can guarantee that most or all of your men will come home at the end of the day! You're just-" I set a hand on her shoulder to interrupt her.

"Just some guy. I know. I'm just a meddlesome jackass who decided he doesn't like the way things are. And you know what? I'm proud of it." I grin ruefully. "The wheel was probably invented by someone who was too lazy or weak to pick shit up and saw a stone rolling." I point out. "Me being meddling could be the key to me starting a organization that saves thousands or millions of lives."

"Yeah right. There's only, like, 30 million people on Remnant." She points out.

"Yes. Millions. Millions of lives."

"...Do you know something I don't?" She asks archly.

"Suspect only, know not." I reply mysteriously. "Tell me, Blake, you read, no? How often is someone touted as unbeatable or something touted as unbreakable beaten or destroyed?" I make eye contact with her, my face grim. "A wise man once said, 'A one in ten chance? That's pretty unlikely. But a million to one chance? Now that's a sure thing.'"

"Who said that?"

"Some guy in a webcomic. Another saying: 'Once you prepare for the impossible, all that can defeat you is the inconceivable.'"

"...And who said that?"

"Me!" I smirk.

* * *

Ah, here we are again.

The crafting room.

How you have eluded me, O knives of actual beauty and strength!

I glare at the direwolf fang in front of me. It's almost like bone ISN'T the optimal material for creating knives!

Fortunately, I have a new technique I'm trying.

Trope abuse or not, it might actually work.

After all, this trope has been confirmed…

I dip my corrosion-proofed brush carefully into a mixture and slather it over the knife-to-be in careful patterns, and a larger part where the blade will be.

The bone begins to soften, melt and flow in those spots.

I apply my stainless steel knife to scrape away the edge, letting the acid leave it's mark elsewhere.

After a minute, I leave it to work itself down naturally and move on to whittling another normally. However, I wrap the handle in Sticky Strands(which were a biiiiiiitch to peel off the bolt) and then non-sticky strands.

I observe it.

[Acid Etched Bone Knife (85% complete)

400% Strength+Dex damage

?]

Huh.

I observe it again a few minutes later.

[Venomous Knife of the Wolf Spiderpion]

…

Holy fuck.

[Venomous Knife of the Wolf Spiderpion

Quality:Elite

600% Str+Dex Damage

Inflicts 7% Poison(Queen Arachne)

+20% Strength

+50% Dexterity

+40% Wisdom

With Dust:

Spins the dust into webbing that contains the effects of the Dust (Error:Requires Arachne souls to activate this effect)

Requires POWDERED dust to function.]

I pause, and then suddenly the notifications stream in.

[Bonecrafting has gained some levels! Now level 15

Auto-junctioned skill Chemical Smithing by performing a basic action

Learned skill Chemical Smithing

Chemical Smithing has gained some levels! Now level 5

Blacksmithing has gained some levels! Now level 15

Smithing Flair has been learned!

Smithing Flair has reached level 3!

Chemical Smithing level 5, 45% experience

+25% effectiveness of chemicals used in the process of creating a weapon or armor

+25% quality of weapons and armor created using chemicals

+2.5% chance of weapons or armor created having special properties based on special chemicals used

Smithing Flair level 3 12% experience

Decorating a weapon or armor grants +3% chance of special properties

Adding a word to a weapon or armor causes all properties to better reflect that word by 30%]

Those are...interesting skills to say the least!

I twirl the knife carefully.

Ooh, yeaaaah…. That balance is… perfect~

…

Okay, what the hell, why am I fetishizing over this weapon?

[Apparently, Ruby is a bad influence on you.]

Fuck off, Death.

[Fuck off, Dead.]

As much as I'm sure Ruby would love this, I already gave her the Talisman of the Rouge. I could give this to Weiss or Blake. Yang doesn't really need a knife(see also her fists), so I'm less worried about her.

….

As much as I like Blake, I feel like I should give Weiss first crack at this. She has more access to Dust anyway.

Ah! But first…

I focus, then imbue 5 Arachne souls into the knife, activating the passive trait and apparently increasing the stat bonuses. Nevermind the 3000 experience that cost me.

[Anansi's Fang

Quality:Unique

650% Str+Dex Damage

Inflicts 8% Poison(Queen Arachne)

+25% Strength

+75% Dexterity

+60% Wisdom

With Dust:

Spins the dust into webbing that contains the effects of the Dust!

Requires POWDERED dust to function.]

Okay, admittedly, it's kind of tempting to keep this.

Still! Weiss could even use this as her default. After all, the girl has two hands, and rapier/knife is a pretty standard combo.

Even if she didn't, it'd be a potent fallback option if she was disarmed or forced into a low-weapon environment. The bone composition meant it wouldn't be triggering any metal detectors anytime soon, which made it perfect for the latter.

I set it aside and begin working on trying to etch another knife the same way.

I'm sure that Anansi's Fang is almost impossible to replicate, but at least I can give Blake and Ruby matching knives.

-=-=-=-=Blake's POV=-=-=-=-

"I'm telling you, he's no good." Ren said.

I narrow my eyes at him. "And I'm telling you you're wrong." I say bluntly. Yes, I was wrong about Adam, but I remembered the signs he'd shown, and I haven't actually seen any of them from Hart. "He isn't a monster just because he used excessive force."

"He literally poisoned himself! In front of all of us. What if someone else decided to have a taste of his drink?"

"Then they'd deserve everything they had coming to them for ignoring the warning labels." I respond sardonically. "Just about the only label missing was a radioactive hazard sign on his cup. In order for it to be any stupider to steal his drink, his cup would have had to be possessed by a Geist or bleeding."

"He watched Roman Torchwick set his own crotch on fire and cracked a joke about it…"

"...Since my partner isn't here, it falls to me to say, 'Don't you mean Roman Torchdick?'." I smirk evilly as Ren blanches slightly.

"...I'm pretty sure he very, very slightly poisoned Nora earlier this year." I blink in shock at this one.

"...What."

"He said he needed something taste tested and offered her maple syrup in exchange. When I questioned him later about Nora acting oddly, he told me that prying on the subject could have disastrous consequences. Then later he actively poisons himself? Pretty obvious."

"...Again, what? I mean, she's obviously okay, so it's not like she could have been THAT poisoned. No harm's done, right?" Blake asked, head tilted. Fugu's poisonous, but people still eat it(albeit very carefully).

"...I don't like it. Why would he need to know what a poison tastes like? Why would me knowing he was working with poison put people at risk?"

"I mean, if someone snuck into Beacon and he poisoned them, that could save lives, right?" I offer feebly. Ren just looks at me. "...I didn't say it was LIKELY someone could sneak into Beacon."

"I don't like it." Ren repeats firmly. "I don't like it, and he isn't a good person. He practically declared that when we were in that warehouse! 'I'm not a hero, I'm an executioner,' he said."

I frown a little before shaking my head slowly. "...No."

"...What do you mean, no?"

"No. I trust him." I say firmly. "He's nothing like A-Nothing like that. Stop." I shake my head again. "Just stop and look at what he actually did. He didn't randomly lash out at the White Fang, even if there are plenty who would. He simply took every action within his power to rescue me. The only things I think he's guilty of are poor judgement and poor impulse control."

"...Perhaps you're right." Ren admits. "But in that case, I have to ask...what made him come to the decisions he did?"

I pause and cock my head. "...Desperation. No, more than desperation…. Desperation only effected this one instance. I'd say...stubbornness. More specifically, a stubborn will to live and a will to have those around him live." I say. "He's firmly convinced that he's at a disadvantage and thus seeks to make use of anything, and I do mean anything, that can give him the slightest edge."

"That sounds...concerning."

"At the moment, he's right… But what happens when he catches up?" I suddenly feel concerned. "Will he have convinced himself that he still needs every scrap that comes his way? Will he be able to see when he has enough?"

"...That's why he has you."

"What?"

"When the time comes, the four of you can put your feet down and tell him he's going too far, or that he doesn't need to do it anymore." He smiles lightly. "And hopefully that's soon. No offense, but frankly, even though I know I could beat him in a straightforward fight, after….that day… I find him a liiiiittle bit terrifying."

"Funny thing. After that day, I feel...safer around him." I say, looking off into the distance. "...I don't want to be friends with someone who's willing to die to protect me." The thought broke my heart a little. "But someone who's willing to kill to protect me?"

I pause.

"I think I can kind of live with that."

* * *

I have to abandon work on the third decent knife made with my oh-so-awesome new skills because of the time.

Specifically, it's morning. I have to meet with the others and grab breakfast. Even if I don't technically have to eat, I've always been a bit of a eater. Especially a stress eater.

As I enter the cafeteria, I see Ren and Blake speaking in a corner. They jump when they spot me. I swear to god, if they jumped any higher, their heads would have brushed the ceiling.

"Hey, Blake!" I wave. "I made you something."

[Venomous Fang of the Wolfspider

550% Str+Dex damage

+15% Strength

+45% Dexterity

+35% Wisdom

Inflicts Arachne Poison(5%)]

"Careful, this thing is poisoned."

"What is it with you and poison, anyway?!" Ren exclaims.

…"I'm sorry?" I ask.

"First you poison Nora-"

"That was one time! And I cut the dose to such a small amount that it couldn't hurt a CHILD! A aura-less child!" I protest

"Then you drink poison in the middle of our HISTORY class-"

"For the purposes of building a fucking immunity to it!" I respond heatedly.

"And then you hand one of your teammates a poisoned knife."

"...Two, actually."

"What."

"I have another for Weiss. It's...better, since I figured she could actually wield it with Myrtenaster rather than only have it as a backup."

"...Words fail me."

"What?!" I respond. "A knife is a perfectly good backup weapon! And as long as you don't accidentally cut yourself or use it in training, adding poison to your weapons is always helpful!"

"...And how do you expect Weiss to train with hers?" Blake cuts in archly.

"...Uhhhh…"

"I mean, this is similar enough to Gambol Shroud that I can use it, but… d'ya think that maybe Weiss would need to learn how to use a knife?"

"...I can give her one of the crappier ones to use during practice in it's place."

"You do that." Blake nods sagely. "And make them distinct, both by eye and touch." She pauses before tilting her head. "...Did you make sheathes for these?"

"...Uhhhhhh…."

"I'll take it that's a no." She grimaces before passing the knife back. "Make me a sheathe first. I'm NOT carrying around a poisoned knife with a naked blade."

"Aww, but Blakey!" I hear Yang say teasingly from behind me. "I thought you LIKED naked blades!~"

Blake blushes hard and forces the knife into my hands, making me wince as it scratches me. I place it in my inventory quickly.

"Aww, I guess Blakey doesn't want your blade. No more training for Greyhart~" Yang teases mercilessly.

"The fuck are you doing, Yang?" I ask, deadpan and trying to ignore the innuendo.

"I feel like things have been a little too serious around here. I just thought I'd...tighten the mood." I groan and I hear at least two other people nearby do the same.

Before the conversation can continue, I hear a rattle of glassware and look over my shoulder only to have to make my deadpan more intense.

"Right. Either the last remnants of my sanity have up and abandoned me, or Cardin's pushing a cart " I her r '"Jay. We can't tell ANYONE about this."

" 'We're all mad here'." Blake responds idly. "But that's definitely Cardin pushing a snack cart."

What in the actual hell.

Like, seriously, of all the things I didn't expect, this one was pretty high on the list.

About equal to the odds of meeting Nyan Cat. A little under the odds of punching a god in the face while having dinner with my wife.

No, wait, wrong thing. A little under the odds of me ever successfully obtaining a wife.

…

Creepy sadist ice cream girls are okay GF material, but not exactly good for ~ATH.

Murmurs go up among everyone in the cafeteria as Cardin begins offering them to people. He starts with CFVY, head bowed and muttering something unintelligible, then moves on to where Jaune, Nora and Pyrrha are currently sitting some distance from us and once again muttering something I can't quite make out.

Then he comes to us.

"I am incredibly sorry for the way I have behaved until now," He mutters. "It was unbecoming of me, especially the bigoted comments and actions I made and performed. Please accept these by way of apology. The tea is a catnip-peppermint blend." I blink at that before running some mental math.

…

She'll be fine. She weighs, like, 20-30 times as much as most cats, and catnip tea should contain little enough catnip to only buzz her.

Sure enough, she regards the cup with mild suspicion, shrugs, and drinks it. All that happens is she perks up a bit afterwards, as if it was a particularly strong coffee.

I glance over at Ruby and see her biscuits(or cookies, when not served with tea) to be gone. As expected from the Cookie Monster.

Things were looking up.

* * *

"You want me to what?" Weiss asked.

"Tell me your story." I replied. We were at a clearing not far from the grounds of the school, where I studied one of the trees I had felled, a diamond tipped knife in hand.

"Why?"

"Totems are not just symbolic." I state. "They are meant to convey a story. I want to tell your story."

Weiss freezes, then looks thoughtful. "What will you do with the leftover space?"

"Your story isn't over yet." I grin. "I'll simply update the totem whenever something happens worthy of it."

She smiles, then begins to speak. I let her words guide my knife, not thinking about the fact that what I'm about to do constitutes art.

-=-=-=Weiss's Story=-=-=-

I'll start with my parents.

Once, there was a man named Jacques, and a woman named Willow. Jacques was from a middle class family, and seemed to be a perfect gentleman with good business sense, having made enough successful investments to gather a few million Lien. So Willow's and Jacques' parents agreed that their children should date a few times.

Jacques was as sly as a fox, and not only managed to cause Willow to become infatuated with her, but charm her father into writing him and not her into the will. Shortly after the will was changed, my grandfather died.

By now it was of course too late for Willow, and she was stuck. Even if she divorced him, Jacques could afford to hire the best divorce lawyers. But he was still acting charming.

When my older sister, Winter was born, they were still on very good terms. As I was born, they began to grow distant.

By the time my little brother Whitley was born, the house was practically a social minefield.

In a way, I feel sorry for him. He's had to learn how to be as sly as Father just to get a moment's peace in the house.

Anyway, this story is about Weiss Schnee, and not the Schnees.(Gesundheit)(Hey!)

As I grew up, I became more and more frustrated by my family name. Not because I hated it, but because I wanted both to be more than the name and yet respected for the name.

So I learned to sing, in hopes of having my own accomplishments that nobody could take away from me.

Any instrument could theoretically be blamed on me having a better instrument because I was rich. My voice could not.

And...that's all that's worth speaking of.

(What about that scar?) (What ABOUT the scar?) (Seems kind of important to leave out.) (Oh, fine.)

When I was 16, after several years of training to become a huntsman. My father insisted on testing me. He had a massive, possessed suit of armor brought in. There was a team of paramedics and Semblance-based healers on standby while I fought it. It scored on me with it's blade after i lost aura, but before anyone could step in, I finished it.

I…

I barely passed. If I'd taken a second longer to beat it, they would have stepped in and Father would have forbidden me from attending Beacon.

I refused to have anyone heal this. As...as a reminder, and a memoir.

[line]

I nod as she finishes, eyeing my totem.

At the top was a carving of a woman not unlike Weiss standing next to a charming man who also resembled her somewhat. I had managed to carve in a snake coiled around the arm he was offering the smiling young lady.

The next image was one of Jacques and Weiss's imagined grandfather leaning over a desk. The same arm is patting her gramps on the back as the snake sinks it's teeth in and the grandfather has pen to paper.

There were three similar images. The first with a young child in Willow's arms, and Jacques hugging her. The second with him smiling down at Baby Weiss.

The third has him scowling and standing as far as I can carve him while Willow protectively clings to the baby Whitley.

The next carving has Weiss curling her hair almost shyly around a finger as her other hand holds a microphone

The final carving based on what she told me shows a tiny Weiss with blade raised against a massive knight with a sword.

I was careful to carve each image no bigger than 1.5 feet, so there's room for over a dozen more. I add in one for the Deathstalker, then one depicting her being chosen as team leader.

I consider adding something to depict our latest excursion, but it feels so WRONG that I instantly pull the knife away from the totem while I think about that.

[Fetishism has gained multiple levels! Now level 22

Woodworking has gained multiple levels! Now level 13]

I Observe the results.

[Tribute to Weiss Schnee:A Soul's Mirror

Carver bonus:

+50% Relationship gains with all Schnees-By-Birth

-50% Relationship gains with Jacques Schnee

-50% Relationship losses with all Schnees-By-Birth

+50% relationship losses with Jacques Schnee

Fulfills a Perk prerequisite

Gained Perk:[Reflections of the Soul]

+1 max level to Aura

Carvee Bonus:

Perm. +10 Wisdom

Perm. +10 Intelligence

Perm. +5 Charisma

Gained Perk:[Reflection of Myself]

Flaw Partially Mitigated:Hubris

Gained Skill:[Willpower]]

"It's...Humbling and inspiring all at once." Weiss breathes.

"By the way, I made you this." I offer her a (sheathed) knife and she takes it with a quirked eye.

"Ah, yes. The, uh, 'backup' you mentioned a while ago?"

"Yeah, though I recommend that one for a offhand. When you're up close, you only really need one hand for Myrtenaster. Besides that, if you modify Myrtenaster you should be able to use it with only one hand, even when adjusting what kind of dust it uses."

She bites her lips thoughtfully. "Uh, well…"

"Oh, and here's another knife to train with. DON'T confuse them. The one I recommend fighting with is poisoned."

"...You like your poison these days." She comments.

I grin and pretend to snap in remembering something. "Speaking of poison… I got you these chocolates!" I pull out the exquisite chocolates.

"...Really?" She glares at me, not sure if I'm serious.

"Do you have any idea how bad sugar is for you?" She rolls her eyes before grabbing a chocolate. I wait until she's eaten it to let out a horrified gasp. "Wait! The ones with caramel contain cyanide!"

She glares at me. "You're… a jackass." She deadpans.

"And you're a ice princess." I respond, making her roll her eyes.

"SHUT UP AND KISS ALREADY!"

"...YANG?!" We both exclaim.

"The one and only! I see you two are getting along better."

"You know," I drawl casually, "I never did repay you for calling us toddlers."

"Now, now, there's a perfe-"

"I wonder if something might happen to your hair care products."

"...You wouldn't have the guts."

"What would happen if a little bit of itching powder made its way into your conditioner?" I muse idly, and Weiss gets it and joins in.

"Or maybe a pack of glitter?"

"Some blue dye in your shampoo? I bet you'd look STUNNING with green hair."

"Or maybe some Ice Dust so it freezes your hair in place?"

"I-I get it! I'm sorry!" She yelps, wide eyed as we smirk, glancing at each other from the corners of our eyes before folding our arms at the same time.

"But Yang!" I cry, and Weiss joins in on the rest of my sentence. "All's hair in love and war!"

There's a moment of shocked silence.

Yang's jaw has dropped.

After a few seconds, she starts laughing her ass off and applauds.. "Alright, hair enough!" She yells between guffaws.

Me and Weiss both keep our casually smug expressions and body language, though our smirks grow. After five seconds of applause, I hold out a hand for a high five and receive it from Weiss.

"Okay. You're forgiven for calling us toddlers now."

She lets out a breath of relief.

"Now I have to punish you for calling me a bastard, and Weiss has to do something for you calling her a bitch."

Yang stiffens and I smirk as Bait And Switch reaches level 10.

After a few seconds of her panicking I take mercy. "You know what, nevermind. I needed to hear that. I'm off to grind, later!" I decide to try out the Spider Dungeon.

* * *

Author's Note:I admit...I wrote another another thing. It's a crossover with a book series that a good chunk of you have never heard of.

Be ready for a crossover with Callahan's Saloon.

Author's Shameless Self Promotion:

If you liked this chapter, remember to favorite or follow if you haven't already. Reviews are always appreciated! (Give me the reviews...i need the reviews~)

Additionally, remember that I have a pat-reon! I'm facing a biiiit of trouble right now, and a little extra income could mean the difference between lasting for 2 months if I get kicked out or lasting for 3. A lot of extra income could mean the difference between 2 months and pretty much fucking forever.. :P Not that I'm expecting the latter. My pat-reon is Grubleafeater.


	37. Chapter 37

I look around.

"Well, this is fucked up."

Spiderwebs. Everywhere.

While it's tempting to KILL IT ALL WITH FIRE, I have the distinct impression I'm going to have a hard time convincing Weiss to refill my gas supplies.

Instead, I quickly turn a stick from one of the trees into a basic Rune-wand, simply Charge-Fire-Line.

I point the tip at a web and channel 200 mana into it. A line of sparks burst into existence, igniting the dry webbing.

I lay about me, igniting every spiderweb in sight. It isn't long before aggravated giant spiders start approaching.

[ **Lesser Arachnid** level 40

4560/5000 HP

0/500 AP

0/0 MP]

I switch to my Wolf-Bone Wands and begin to throw Stone Fists at the first of the Arachnids.

Which, by the way, are apparently also scorpions. Because WHY NOT?!

RAAAAAGH!

I kill two Arachnids before saying 'Fuck this'. I collect a very small bolt of Sticky Strands, 500 lien, a chunk of Spider Chitin, a Spider Eye, a Spider Fang and A Drider's Guide to Bondage.

L-Lewd!

Oh well, at least it isn't handholding. Only degenerates enjoy handholding.

Jokes aside, I pick it up anyway. Knowing Drow, and that Lolth isn't too opposed to Calistria… Well… Even without actual spider silk to work with, it probably has some...very...applicable….uses.

On the other hand, it's also going to be geared towards females being the ones doing the tying up, and I'm not sure how comfortable I am with being the one tied up.

But, hell, it'd be a decent alternative moneymaker to Twilight. I could market it as a practical guide to sex with a slightly fantasy-ish bent.

…

And there are probably at least a few spider fauni with spinnerets around.

I quickly Escape the dungeon after that.

…

Is it really worth considering the Bunny dungeon?

…

Fine.

With a sigh, I go to the Bunny Dungeon.

…

Oh. Like the Spiders, the Bunnies are giant, each being about the size of a large wolf. I Observe one.

…

[ **Wabbit** level 10

750/750 HP

250/250 AP

0/0 MP]

...Welp.

I really don't know what I was honestly expecting.

I quickly use Weaving the Webs.

[Through use of a skillbook, you have learned the skills Intrigue and Webspinner!

Intrigue level 1 0%

+2% to all attempts to work with politics

+2% ability to detect falsehoods and deception

+2% ability to understand politispeak

Webspinner level 1 0% Cost:100 MP/Foot, doubled for sticky

No, you can not shot web.

Spin a strand of web from any part of your body. Can be sticky or not sticky at will.

...Yes. Any part of your body, you fuckin' perv.

Current tensile strength of webbing is BASICALLY NONE.

Current min. Thickness of webbing is 5 MM.

Current max. Thickness of webbing is 2 CM.

Current stickiness of sticky webs is POST-IT.]

...Well, Webspinner officially sucks. Not even good for foreplay.

On the other hand, I really wasn't expecting it to include Intrigue. Maybe it involves reading between the lines of the book?

The Drider's Guide is a skillbook, but it's almost definitely just for bondage.

…

Then again, bondage is basically the art of tying someone up in such a way that they can't escape…

No, bad thoughts.

Anyway, Webspinner won't be very helpful in taking care of the Wabbits.

Not that I really need help for these pitiful fools.

I pull out my axe.

[ **Woodsman's Pride**

2000% STR damage

X3 Damage vs Wood

X1.5 damage vs Animals

Dust-Incompatible]

Best axe 10/10.

First I activate a Wind Crystal Healing.

I advance on the nearest Wabbit before letting out a Warcry.

Since they're dungeon monsters, the Wabbits qualify as hostile and begin advancing on me. Just As Planned.

Oh, right, Warcry…

[Warcry level 2 10% experience Cost:1000 mp

Aggros all hostiles within a range of (Con+Cha)x3.1 meters

+11% all physical stats for 66 seconds]

Considering that I had just increased my Charisma to 50, that means that it's over 200 meters.

I activate Primal Rage and begin to cut them down. Combat Trance is too exhausting for sustained usage.

Each swing instantly kills the Wabbit struck. Pretty much as expected.

Honestly?

I'm not even willing to waste the money for bullets on these things.

I pick up the loot whenever there's a lull.

Let's see…. Oh! A Rabbit's Foot!

I Observe it.

[ **Lucky Rabbit's Foot**

+5 Luck

-5 Charisma]

Why the minus to charisma?

[Because you're wearing a rabbit's foot. That was torn off a rabbit.]

...Oh. Maybe I should get it taxidermied.

For now I stuff it in my Fetish Pouch so I can enjoy the Luck bonus, hopefully, before continuing my killing spree.

…

Man, these guys drop a lot of carrots and clover.

...Wait, why don't animals drop meat?!

[You don't have the Skill for that.]

…

Oh, son of a bitch.

The loot is admittedly sparse on these guys, though it's gotten better after that Rabbit's Foot. I've killed 50 of them and barely scraped together a thousand lien.

And the experience is even worse! 2500, 50 a pop for this.

Still, at least my Axe Proficiency is coming along nicely.

[ **Axe Proficiency** level 5 12% experience

+25% damage with axes

Damage x1.5 vs trees with axes

+2.5% speed with axes]

...Yes, this meant that I would do, uh…

11250% of my Strength in damage against trees with my axe. Before accounting for Fury.

[Well, if I ever need a tree killed, I know who to call!]

Shut it.

Still, I was doing 37.5x my strength against animals before other bonuses kicked in. Hardly bad, really.

Did I even need Fury?

Probably not.

Still, it isn't terrible to train it.

I let out another Warcry when the hordes begin flagging to draw more in.

Still, if there's one good thing about this, they're numerous and easy to kill. Should be alright for soul fusion.

The real issue is that I don't really have any good AOE. So I have to kill each one, then move on to another rather than wipe out twenty in one go or something.

Arrrrrrgh!

After my 100th kill, I call it. I have 2750 lien from these wimps, a pair of cosplay rabbit ears(no comment), 74 carrots, 20 pounds of clover, a...personal… 'cosplay' bunny tail(Especially no comment!), a 'mace' called the Carrot Crusher(Yup), and 60 rabbit pelts of no real value.

Mind, they're pretty good carrots, and maybe the clover is the same.

…

Can people even eat clover?!

I leave the Dungeon to return to working on the Suns.

* * *

First things first:Neo is a sadist. Not a drill sergeant. She'd be much better suited to a assistance position, making sure that everyone is doing what they're supposed to and making those who aren't do so.

Dressed up as Eli Burning, and not the Courier, I saunter into the bar.

"My subordinate tells me that you're good at finding information," I say casually.

"...Might be. Might not be. Who's asking?"

"Eli Burning." I stick out my hand, which currently holds a 1000 lien card. "I'm not asking you to do anything that can get you in trouble. I just want to know how to find someone who matches a certain description. Possibly another, too."

"Oh?"

"I need a drill sergeant." I say bluntly. "One who's not prejudiced against Faunus, but preferably one with a massive bone to pick with the White Fang. I might need someone else who matches that description with a mastery of Aura, particularly it's unlocking. It'd be nice to prevent any...incidents when unlocking everyone."

"...So it's true then." Junior takes a sip of his drink. "...I don't want your money. I want a deal."

"Go on?"

"I have control of a fairly large...group. If I were not to be here, someone else would be, and they'd be calling their shots and doing worse with them. I don't want you to do anything to hurt me, the twins, or my men. In exchange, I try to keep my men in line. No murder, no rape, no maiming, no armed robbery, nothing like that. I don't think I can reasonably stop them from anything more than that. So to make up the balance of things which you might target me for, I'll offer you information, both to assist your internal infrastructure and to help you take out the White Fang, and whatever group you set your sights on after they're gone."

"...Agreed."

"...I know two who meet both of your descriptions, if you're willing to deal with eccentricity."

"I am willing, yes."

"Excellent. There's Ex-Sergeant Wode Sanguine, and… Maroon."

"Maroon?"

"His semblance...well, he always was a know it all, so I'm pretty sure it's a precog semblance. Whatever it is, I hear he's always come off as insane ever since he awakened it. Don't let it fool you. I'm not sure if he actually IS insane, but he's surprisingly…" Junior seems to be grasping for a term.

"Practical?"

"...That, yes."

So, a male fanfic-Luna Lovegood then.

Okay then. I'm sure that can't go horribly wrong.

"Give me the info on them, then." I say bluntly. I needed to check on how my recruits were assembling and settling in.

* * *

The scene I find is nowhere near as bad as I might have imagined. I arrive at 9, just as they're filing in for breakfast. Those I accepted for military are currently lined up eagerly for the cooks, who have taken my admittedly sparse budget as a challenge.

At the moment, they're assembling egg salad sandwiches, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and making ramen noodles with meat.

"Good morning, Mocha." I greet Neo. "I neglected to ask, do you have the Aura mastery necessary to safely awaken someone's aura?"

She pauses and thinks, shrugs, and murmurs, "Eh."

"...Mostly safely?"

She nods at that.

"Alright. When I make the announcement, I want you to go around and awaken Auras. Take it easy, don't kill yourself doing it, but I want as many of them to have Aura before breakfast is over and training starts as reasonably possible."

She nods.

I give people a few minutes to eat, then hop up on my table, waving.

"Your attention, please!" I exclaim, before continuing. "Mocha here is going to go around and awaken Auras. Those of you who do not have Aura unlocked, keep a eye out for Mocha and raise your left hand as she passes by. Remember, she can't get everyone at one time, so it's possible she won't get to you today. Thank you." I sit down.

By the time breakfast is over, Neo has awakened five people's aura's. She's slightly sweaty, which raises a eyebrow from me.

"Hot and bothered already, huh?" I jibe.

She flips me off. But she's smiling when she does it. I take that as a good sign.

"C'mon. We gotta go whip these people into shape."

Her eyes light up and she pu-

"NOT with a actual whip!"

She pouts as i rest my head in my hands Nevertheless, she puts the whip away.

* * *

Neo's method of training is...sadistic to say the least. Still, she does seem to understand the meaning of restraint. Most of her sadism is focused on those who have a Aura and aren't actually performing properly during their exercise, be it by having incredibly poor form in their exercise, or by simply not trying.

Fortunately, there aren't many of the latter, considering the fact that I explicitly chose were most likely to be obsessed with making this work out.

There will most likely be incredibly rapid progress for the first few months, especially after everyone has Aura and Sanguine's with us. Assuming I successfully recruit him.

-=-=-=-=-=Sanguine's POV=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Wode Sanguine was once the best damn drill sergeant in the Atlesian Army.

Of course, Atlas being Atlas, and the SDC being based in Atlas, a certain terrorist organization had a bone to pick with those who were in the Atlesian Army, especially those who stood out.

Wode wasn't even there on the day that his daughter was killed by the White Fang.

His 20 year old daughter died a rather violent death. This was back when the extremists cared about their image, and so their home had been 'mysteriously' burned down. Only when Tay Sanguine ran out of the house, hacking up a storm, she got gutted and thrown back in.

The autopsy showed the cut across her abdomen in spite of the fire damage.

The fire hadn't actually been intended to kill anyone, or at least that's what the police thought. His daughter didn't own a car, and her boyfriend was out. The lights had all been off, and the fire was started soon after he'd left.

In short, his house was supposed to be empty.

Not that that was a comfort to him.

He was honorably discharged soon afterwards after a...incident.

Believe it or not, the Atlesian Army does actually have faunus members, and Ironwood makes it a point to make sure that discrimination doesn't get a chance to set in.

The rules were very clear, and Wode found himself in violation of them.

Even under the circumstances, there could be no exceptions, and so he was discharged quietly. Even shook hands with James Ironwood himself as the man apologized for kicking him out.

Wode casually gulped at a Bloody Mary as his scroll suddenly buzzed.

He opened it and read the message.

'Tell me, mr. Sanguine...how would you like to see the White Fang fall?' The message read.

Now, Mr. Sanguine was no fool. This was probably a bad idea, and he knew and accepted it. He sent a reply.

'Quite a bit.'

'Enough to participate? Despite what happened in the past?'

'I only had one daughter. They can't take her from me again.'

'My condolences. I didn't mean it quite like that. Regardless, if you meet me at this address in two days, I'll explain.'

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Maroon's POV-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Maroon stared at his scroll expectantly.

Without reading the message, the moment his scroll beeped, he typed his own.

'It is as I have Foretold. We have made Contact.'

'Uh...Yes. Yes we have.'

'Courier Burning. I accept your request that I join with you.'

'I am not Eli Burning.'

'What? But I Hindtold it.'

Hindtelling was the opposite of foretelling. This was obvious. How would anyone not understand this?

Nonetheless…

'..."Hindtold"?'

...He still asked, of course.

'I Foretold that you would ask that.'

Maroon pauses.

'Oh! I now Hindtell that you had wished to keep that secret. I apologize most profusely, Mortant Messenger.'

'...Secret? I tell you, I am not Eli Burning!'

'Exactly. In any case, I will be at the meeting place you plan to meet me at whenever you decide you want to meet me there.'

'That doesn't make any sense!'

'It makes perfect sense to me, and it will to you one day.'

[line]

...Urgh!

Prophets are a fucking pain in the ass.

Apparently, this guy can see the past AND the future or something?

Fuck.

And that means that he knows who 'I' am.

Fuckity fuck.

Interestingly, he didn't use my REAL real name, though! Which is fortunate. I'd rather not have to dispose of him. But it would be risky to let him know that and live.

...Or maybe he foretold that using it would result in him being marked for death?

Urrrrgh, my head.

Still, he was...strangely compliant.

Fuck this, I'm going to figure it out later.

* * *

Author's Note:In case it isn't abundantly clear, the Twin Suns will require OCs to function. So yeah. This story contains OCs. Mostly notable ones will be named, though names mentioned in passing may be of non-notable ones.

While CNR is a thing, note that NOT EVERYONE NECESSARILY AGREES WITH OR HAS PARENTS WHO AGREED WITH THAT, or perhaps they're from SOMEWHERE THAT DIDN'T HAVE MUCH CONTACT WITH THE KINGDOMS. With that in mind, some OCs may simply NOT have CNR compliant names.

As to the agreeing with CNR part:

It's a rule that's meant to remind people about creativity by forcing them to be less creative about something.

…

The fuck.

* * *

Bonus

* * *

Blake was lounging in the dorm, reading the newest installment of Ninjas of Love. She was the only one there; Yang and Ruby had decided to go to a cafe and Weiss was making a call at the Tower.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock. She jolted, bow twitching before she got up.

She gets a vague impression of shattering glass as she opens the door, and she finds a cart loaded with fresh, steaming hot casserole with cheese, pineapple, spaghetti, tuna, peas, corn, carrot and breadcrumbs. There's also tuna salad and cheese sandwiches and a envelope.

Her ears flick under the bow again and she glances each way before pulling it in and opening the envelope.

Several stapled pages fall out with highlighted passages.

…

They're from a Ninjas of Love book!

One has a scrawled note on it.

She begins to read the passages to try to figure out what's going oooooooh my.

Her cheeks burn red.

'Elize tightened the rope. "Your loverboy will never find you," She taunted her captive as she brushed her captive's cheek with the back of one finger. "Why not just relax and enjoy this? It's all just harmless fun, anyway~"'

She started skimming rather than actually reading it thoroughly to get the gist, ignoring the heat she could feel building in her body.

I-it's not smut! It's literature!

The general gist is that the other considers herself(Probably a her? It's probably that pink haired girl who's admittedly been, er...haunting, her dreams.) to have been in a similar position to Elise, who had taken what pleasure she could while serving her master faithfully, and who had fallen for one of his enemies, turning the minute that her master had died against her lover. She had been orded originally to kidnap one of Maieto's many love interests to marry to her master's heir for political reasons.

…

Okay, this is obvious manipulation.

But…

Her stomach growls.

She'd been so absorbed in her book that she hadn't eaten all day and the food was looking really tasty, and admittedly the passages, the idea that her life had begun to mirror a part of the books she treasured(and certainly didn't read for smut) had lit a fire in her body.

It was so tempting to just let go of any ill will towards-

Oh yeah, there's also the scrawled note.

'Look at the underside of the top of the cart.'

She does so.

...Dust. That's…

A collector's edition set of the first 5 books! She carefully peels the tape off and removes the plastic covering that had been applied so the tape couldn't damage any of the books.

"...I-I'm not that easily bribed!" she tries to protest, even as her stomach growls LOUDLY..

Then her scroll buzzes. She blinks and checks it.

Unknown number texted her, huh? She opens the text.

'They're signed ;)'

"D-damn you!" She protests feebly, her resolve crumbling like so many cookies.

She gets herself a bowl of the casserole and one of the sandwiches and makes it halfway through the casserole before it hits her.

"Wait-you're spying on me?!"

'...Maybe….'

'Anyway, you will not get in the way of my fated, now, will you?'

Blake shivers a little. "Your 'fated'? ...Hart?"

'WILL YOU?'

"...Will you try to take him without his approval?"

'...I will not attempt to have sex with him against his will.' Came the carefully worded reply.

"In that case, I will only interfere if he asks me to or if he is in a relationship."

'Acceptable terms.'

* * *

'One down, three to go…~' Neo hums to herself triumphantly. 'Not that I really expected it to be that hard; I'm REALLY good at reading body language, and I know EXACTLY how you felt about being tied up and naked like that, you naughty little kitty~' She giggles. 'Maybe once I have my Greyhart wrapped around my finger, I'll seduce you into being our little playtoy once in a while. He seems like the type who likes to top, and while I don't mind giving up control from time to time, it'll grow wearisome after a while…~'

She smirks.

'Yes, I think I'll start preparing something for you…. Maybe a collar?~"

She slips off to go home and do something about how hot she's feeling.

* * *

Bonus 2:

* * *

A forgotten cup sits on a desk.

Drip.

…

Drip.

…

Drip.

Beneath the desk, brownish black liquid fell from the underside of it onto a puddle on the floor, which was quickly becoming a miniature lakebed…

* * *

Bonus 3

* * *

"Nat, could you...use it?" Whispered Raze. "I ache all over." The faunus boy groaned.

"I-i can't! Gramma said never to use it where anyone could see!" Natsuko replied in her own whisper.

Raze snorts quietly. "Have you seen the things that Burning's 'Courier' does? I don't think a little bit of healing will be noticed."

"I...Alright." She relents. "But not here." She hesitates, then comes to a decison. "Escape plan theta, on my mark. …...Now."

Raze immediately pretends to grope her, something aided by the fact that they were sharing a sleeping bag. She lets out a mock-stifled gasp and stage whispers, "R-raze! Not here, y-you beast! I thought you said you were too sore to think of doing anything else!"

"And since when has that extended to 'doing' you?~" He pretends to kiss her on the neck, and she gasps.

"R-raaaaze, I'm serious, we have to go somewhere private…" She says before bolting out of bed, dragging him by the wrist.

There were snickers all around.

"Ah, young love!" called out one of them.

Natsuko's face flushed despite this all being basically to plan. It was still embarassing! Still, that was part of the point of Theta.

"Boy!" One of them yelled. "Catch!" A shiny square flew towards Raze who reflexively caught it and then blushed REALLY hard.

They quickly made their escape, Raze quietly tucking the condom away. ...You never know.

* * *

"Escape Plan Theta had interesting long term consequences. The tone of the group was one with members who for the most part were angry or desperate...but with Escape Plan Theta, we had accidentally sown seeds of hope. A reminder that even in trying times, even as we trained or fought to defend and avenge the innocent, we could still find time for happiness.

That belief would be tested, but for the time, it would spur everyone on to greater heights."

-Natsuko Yamada, 'The Summer Sun'.


	38. Chapter 38

Author's Note:In case it wasn't clear the last time I did this: These are actualy relevant to the story in very, very strong ways in the future. I decided to write this because I was having serious writer's block and it sets up some very important things I need to do later.

Also you totally have enough information to know who all of these people are, 'nuff said.

* * *

"MARTIN!"

"Apollo." Responded a level voice. Martin, seated in a chair.

"You know full well that that was only rated for 6."

"Six? Parascellus, remind me, what do the numbers go?"

"One, two, five-"

"THREE, PARA!" Roared Apollo.

"Right, three, four, seven."

"FIVE, GODDAMMIT!"

Martin smirked. "Right. So before I took action, there were actually seven connections."

Apollo blinked. "Come again?"

"Oh, I intend to~"

"MAKE WITH THE INFORMATION BEFORE I PULL YOUR LIVER OUT OF YOUR ASSHOLE."

"Riiiiight." Martin paused dramatically. "So, Apollo, why don't you check your own connection?"

There's a brief pause. "Oh, shit."

"Sorry; Not into that sort of thing."

"But adding a eighth only makes things worse! With seven, it'll be found eventually, but eight? Are you TRYING to ruin everything?"

"Question. What happens if some of them are pared down permanently?"

"...Then the schedule would return to normal, plus or minus a few centuries or millennia. But why? What does this gain you?"

Martin spread his hands out, palms up as he rose from his seat. His visage twisted and shifted as a top hat and cane appeared in his hands, and where his eyes had been two voids stared as his mouth was stretched in a eternal grin.

"Why, Calypso dearest, this isn't about me." He plopped the hat on his head before gesturing grandly. "It's about US."

"...Just because you've turned into a skeleton doesn't mean that I'm going to bone you, Sammy."

"Don't be like that, baby. We've created such glorious things together. Don't you want to make oooooone last creation?"

"Once, I might have said yes. But we both know that there's nothing we can create together that'll stop it."

"My, my, now aren't you the darling little defeatist? Keep it up and you'll kill your soul and then you'll ACTUALLY be mine."

"Oh, go to hell!" She paused abruptly as the eye sockets bored into her with a steady gaze.

"Would if I could, Sister." He said flatly. "I could use a fucking vacation."

She frowned guiltily, then promptly exploded.

"...I hate it when she does that. If only people would stop seeing her as a massive explosion, maybe she wouldn't be able to turn into one anymore." Griped 'Sammy'. "Whatever. Fuck you too, Arma." He huffs and resumes his 'duty'.


	39. Chapter 39

So passes several weeks. I spend about 2 hours a day with my team, excluding class, and spend my nights with my Suns and 'Mocha'. After midnight, I beat the absolute CRAP out of wolves, primarily with my fists.

But after about 2.5 weeks of this, Ozpin interrupts with a call.

With no small amount of trepidation, I go to his office.

"Ah. He's here." Ozpin says as the elevator opens, sipping his cocoa.

"This is the one you spoke of?" One of his visitors purrs. I blink. "He looks positively yummy."

Another of the visitors yells, "Down, girl!" before whacking her on the top of the head. "Anyway, you'd be Greyhart?"

"That's me."

"I've been told you fancy yourself a spider hunter?"

Trick question. "Arachnid. Spiders don't have stingers."

He smiles. "And why would you like to?"

"Knowledge. I want to see what's down there, and I know I can kill anything else down there."

The man blinks. "What about protecting the populace?"

"Mamarachne's dead, the specialists, assuming they're you, are here. All I do is make it a little easier and get the opportunity to learn."

He begrudgingly accepts this and sighs. "And my final question." He grimaces and facepalms, almost speaking before the seductive woman cuts in.

"Do you think I'm hot?" She smirks and I hesitate, blushing lightly.

"Um...Yes?"

"Right. That settles it, then. He comes with us." Proclaims the violette.

"Dammit, Fuschia!" Groans another of the Huntsmen. "You should never have been the leader…"

Ozpin and the woman both raise a eyebrow at him.

"Er… I mean to say-"

"Mr. Greyhart. You have my permission to join team FNCH on their cleanup operation." He sips his cocoa. "Do try to avoid disturbing any more elite Grimm."

"...There are a lot of bird teams, aren't there?"

Ozpin pointedly doesn't respond.

"Greyhart? Take the win." Cut in one of the men. "My name is Nettle."

A plucky young girl cuts in. "And I'm Cinnamon." She's a precious little cinnamon roll~ "Dammit, stop looking at me like I'm cute!"

"My name is Hedge." A scruffy looking man introduces himself.

"And I'm Fuschia. I'm the leader. I make sure things go 'bang'. I also blow things up." She purrs, winking lightly. "Cinny there is a stealth specialist, Nettle is a pikeman and Hedge is our defender."

"I...Don't have a specialty. I'm sneaky, a little speedy and I hit a little hard, but I guess my real specialty is preparation. My Semblance allows me to carry a staggering amount of supplies, and food doesn't go bad while I store it. I have Bandages, Water Dust, Fire Dust and food. And if we find anything particularly interesting down there? I can carry it. 40-60 split on anything I carry, split the 60 between you 4."

"30-70."Fuschia instantly counters.

"Agreed." I respond after a moment's thought.

She pouts. "You were supposed to insist, or try to split the difference, so I could say…. 30-70, and a _favor._ " She winks saucily, one hand playing with her hair. I blush hard and look away, triggering a giggle. "This one's fun, Ozzie!"

"...Ozzie?" I inquire as Ozpin makes a face.

"What?! He doesn't ask people to call him Ozzie anymore?" Cinnamon blurts out. There's a brown blur, and suddenly she's wrapped her arms around Ozpin's waist. He looks like he'd rather be ANYWHERE ELSE. Then it hits me.

"Oh my god, you used to be the cool teacher!"

Hedge smirks in response, pretending to put on a cap and flip it around. "Hey, yo, wassup, I'm OZZIE!" He chuckles.

OH MY GOD, OZPIN WAS GREAT TEACHER ONIZUKA!

Meanwhile, Cinny keeps clutching Ozpin's waist. "OZZIE-SENSEI ISN'T COOL ANYMORE!" She wails.

…."How OLD is she?" I ask Nettle.

He deadpans. "Twenty three."

….What.

"She has a condition. She simply...never grew up. Acts like a kid because people keep treating her like one. She's actually way more mature than she pretends to be. She even has a boyfriend."

I...have no idea how to respond to that. Wait, there's a response! "How the hell is she in any condition to be a Huntress? Isn't puberty kind of critical to things like muscle development?"

"Aura compensates somewhat, her Semblance covers for the rest of what she needs." He replies.

"Huh. Wel-"

"OZZIE-SENSEI, I'M GONNA MAKE YOU COOL AGAIN!"

"Annnnd we're done here." Declares Fuschia, grabbing Cinny's shoulders and squeezing until she lets go of Ozpin.

"Hey!" She whines as her leader picks her up and sets her on a shoulder, pouting. "S-see you, Ozzie-Sensei!"

Okay. I am platonically in love with their whole team.

* * *

We arrive at the Deathstalker cave. I pull out Cerberus, just to have it ready.

"Right-o. So, you slipped into the cave, killed a few Deathstalkers, and snuck past the Arachne, right?" Asked F.

"Nope. Killed my way through."

"What? I gotta have a look at this."

We enter, and FNCH are surprised to find the entrance clear of opponents. Fuschia studies the ashes lying around with a clinical eye. "Fire to clear the webs?" I grin and nod. "That was sloppy, cutie." Wait, what?

"How so?"

"Sometimes, Grimm that are old enough know what fire is. And that, by and large, the greatest producers thereof are humans. Therefore they chase fire, light...and smoke."

...Oh. "I see how that could be bad."

"Not bad. Just something you need to know. Not knowing can get your throat ripped out, chest impaled or worse." I wince.

"Well, you're refreshingly blunt."

"Blunt saves lives."

I blink. "Kay then."

We move on.

* * *

We soon reach the Mamarachne chamber. Along the way were a few small carvings, which I took pics of.

This, on the other hand, is make or break.

I study the flagstones beneath my feet.

"Definitely manmade. Cracked, but smooth and flat."

"He's right." Cinny confirms, kneeling down and spitting on a finger before running it over the ground. "Marble. Mortared together."

Fuschia hums thoughtfully.

I pull out a Fire Dust crystal and activate it for extra light, examining the walls.

On one of the walls, I discover a massive carving. It's a bit indistinct, so I use some water dust to carefully rinse it off, dislodging years if not centuries of stone dust that had covered the carvings.

Massive stone letters in a language I couldn't even come close to comprehension of stand in the middle of a ornate carving, a group of winged men facing off against a woman riding a massive dragon that, at least in the carving, was made of pure jet. The woman is holding a bow made of obsidian and shrouded in flames.

I snap multiple pictures of the mural at different angles.

[Through careful recording of ancient secrets for posterity, you have obtained…

5 Wisdom

5 Intelligence

Junior Archaeologist title

Archaeology level 1]

….Holy shit. I was going to have to find more of these.

[Quest Created:It Belongs In A Museum!

Explore the deepest, darkest corners of Remnant for cultural information, prophecies, or powerful artifacts!

Optional:Donate findings to museums

Optional:Create own museum to display findings.

Reward:Stat bonuses, information, potential artifacts, Archaeology titles and skill levels!

Optional:Reputation with scholars and museum owners, possible monetary rewards

Optional:Reputation with scholars, revenue from museum/s, reputation with visitors, ?]

Daaaaaaamn. A few more finds like this, and I'll be a regular Jee-Han!

…

I'm sure that this picture is totally unimportant and has nothing to do with any prophecies.

I hear a low whistle next to me, and glance to see that Fuschia had snuck up on me while I was distracted. "Impressive, loverboy. How did you know this would be here?"

"I had a hunch." I say. "I saw some carvins outside the cave when I went in the first time, so I figured that there could be more deeper in." She nods, seemingly satisfied.

From that chamber on, we meet with some Grimm resistance. I don't even get the chance to attack any, denying me any loot, but I still get the Pseudosouls whenever one of FNCH obliterate a Arachne.

So, this is what it's like to have a group carry you in real life.

I hand out water and protein bars liberally whenever someone looks like they're tiring. Cinny seems to be especially ravenous, devouring many a bar.

After a few hours of spelunking, we come across another chamber in better shape than Mamarachne's den.

The chamber is, however, mostly barren, except for two things.

A box and a sarcophagus next to it.

"Now, this isn't a obvious trap at all." I quip, taking pictures out the outsides of the box and sarcophagus before waving FNCH back.

"Whatcha gonna do?" Asks Cinny as she moves to cover.

"Open that safely." I state, and she pouts.

"Fine…."

Once they're clear of the room, I switch Cerberus to Claw mode and back away, shooting a lid, then a wall, before hitting the retract on both ends and letting go of the handle.

The sheer force of the retracting grapple tears the lid off of the box as the movement itself triggers a dart launcher, the undoubtably poisoned projectile striking the ceiling and rebounding at the same time as a spike trap is set off, sending three black, metal stakes flying through the air where someone opening the box would stand.

All pointless, as I was 10 feet away.

I smirk before stepping around the spikes to study the contents.

"Huh." I extract a ornate hammer and equally ornate tongs. Both are engraved, probably with a name. "Jeweling equipment? Curious." I muse.

I stow them away and extract a small clay tablet, before stowing that, too.

Right. Now that's empty.

I grapple the sarcophagus and pile some pillows and blankets in front of it.

I take hold of the cable and slowly drag the lid off from afar, nose wrinkling when I see clouds of blue...something scatter.

I summon Wind Dust into my palm and twist my wrist, sending out a wave of air to disperse the no doubt lethal gas.

Inside the sarcophagus….is a corpse. I don't know what I expected. It is, however, reasonably concerned.

I step forward and shove the corpse and the lid into my Inventory.

[Minor Reward:It Belongs In a Museum!

+1 Int!

+1 Wis!

Archaeology has reached level 2!]

Neato! Not as good as that giant mural and text that needed translation, but every point could be critically important. Therefore, every free point must be zealously collected!

[Y'know, skills are important, too.]

Skills? BAH! Skills are easy to gain, and you just gave me a quest that directly boosts my stats, AND a skill!

Speaking of skills…

[ **Archaeology** level 2 25%

Determines how much information you can glean from relics of ancient times.

+1.5% Int

+1.5% Wis

+15% Skill Experience gained to ancient arts

Unlocks special bonuses when using ancient relics

+7.5% experience to any skill used with an ancient relic

+30% instead when using ancient relic and ancient skill]

….Holy shit, this skill is insane.

Unless all Ancient gear is utterly useless, this is amazing, especially since it looks like that EXP bonus will scale like mad.

10% per level, I think?

I wonder if I'll still get the bonus if I reforge a ancient weapon.

"Let's move on." Fuschia's words shake me out of my reverie. I nod and turn towards her.

The travel is surprisingly uneventful, as they continue just slaughtering Grimm… All in all, I must have collected 30k experience so far. I did manage to ping a few Arachne with my Katars, getting 3000 lien, a bundle of Spider Silk and Eye of the Spider:Chapter ⅓.

I tried using it.

[Error:Cannot use incomplete skillbooks!

Chapter 1: **Owned.**

Chapter 2: **Rare drop from Spider-type monsters of level 50 and greater; common drop from Spider-type monsters of [Boss] rank or level 150 and greater.**

Chapter 3: **Rare drop from Spider faunus; rare stock at Faunus-owned bookstores** ]

….What.

….Speaking of Faunus, I need to check on Tukson at some point.

Soon, we reach a notable area.

"Dust deposits?!" Exclaims Fuschia as we come across a glittering crystal, surrounded by even more. "This close to Vale?"

"This must be part of why these tunnels were carved out to begin with. Then they probably ran into another tunnel, so Grimm showed up. They drew the warning I saw at the entrance...and they left."

I take a few samples of the loose gravel, or more accurately, all of the loose rock, only to discover a shining, gray-gold pickaxe head.

I blink and Observe it.

[? Electrum pick

Durability:10/1500

This ancient pickax was used by the (?) to extract Dust from the ruined mines below Vale.]

Muhahahaha! My first Ancient piece of gear! I just need to re-haft it.

I stow it away with a grin, then look up to see FNCH staring at me in horror.

"...What?"

"If you're right, you've uncovered another threat to Vale. A Grimm tunnel is a massive security threat, through which any number of Grimm could come through." Nettle states flatly. "We will finish this run, then retrieve as many things of value as possible before collapsing this cave system if we find even the SLIGHTEST TRACE of evidence to your summary, especially because it is an excellent explanation for the Queen Arachne's presence."

"Fuck." I state.

"Indeed."

We carry on, and soon we run into a abrupt end to the roughly hewn walls and find that it is now jagged instead, the tunnel abruptly turning by 120 degrees.

"And there's the tunnel. You won't find much of anything here. We should turn back." Says Nettle.

"That's not true, actually." I say idly as I study the area. "Most likely, whoever tunneled into this would have died, and I may find some of their stuff."

After some sifting(storing) gravel, I find another pick, a scrag of cloth, and a small pile of gold.

"Alright, guys. Let's go back, now." I straighten up. "We can put in a order to collapse these tunnels, right?"

Nettle nods and we set out.


End file.
